German musician Wecker reveals he can no longer play the piano

Musician Konstantin Wecker, 78, can no longer play the piano because of nerve damage in his hands.

"Especially the left hand kept failing. At first, I didn't take it seriously, I thought to myself, maybe you're just having a bad day, it'll pass. But it didn't pass. A gradual process, where it got worse from week to week," he told Saturday's edition of the German broadsheet the Süddeutsche Zeitung.

He said there is no precise diagnosis. He can only play "very simple melodies" now, he told the newspaper. "Like a little child. Like a beginner. That's all there is now. And it probably won't get any better. There is no prospect of recovery."

He will probably never sing his anti-Nazi song "Willy" on stage again, he said.

"I couldn't let anyone else play the piano for that. I just have to play it myself. But I can't anymore. 'Willy' is now history."

The singer-songwriter, whose new book "Der Liebe zuliebe" (For Love's Sake) is due to be released on Monday, said that not being able to play privately is even worse for him.

"That hurts me much more. Sitting at the piano was pure meditation for me. I never practised, I just played, completely losing myself in the music. Often for three hours at a stretch. Accepting this renunciation is an extremely tough challenge."