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Music History Events: Health Issues

June 10, 2022 On Instagram, Justin Bieber announces he has Ramsay Hunt syndrome, a rare neurological condition that has caused parts of his face to become paralyzed. He cancels the rest of his tour to focus on treatment, but returns to the stage August 12 at a festival in Budapest.

August 9, 2021 Jason Isbell becomes the first major artist to require proof of COVID vaccination or a current negative test to attend his shows. "I'm all for freedom, but I think if you're dead, you don't have any freedoms at all," he says.

March 2, 2021 Dolly Parton gets the coronavirus vaccine, which she helped fund with a $1 million donation to Vanderbilt University Medical Center. To encourage others to get it, she posts video of her getting the shot on her social media channels and adapts her song "Jolene" to the occasion: Vaccine, vaccine, vaccine, vaccine I'm begging of you please don't hesitate

September 7, 2018 Country singer Kathy Mattea ends a six-year recording hiatus when she releases the folk album Pretty Bird, featuring covers of Joan Osborne's "St. Teresa," Mary Gauthier's "Mercy Now," and Bobbie Gentry's "Ode To Billie Joe." It also debuts a new voice from the husky-throated singer, whose vocal problems forced her to learn to tap into her lower register.

February 12, 2018 Judas Priest guitarist Glenn Tipton announces he will no longer tour with the band due to Parkinson's disease, which he was diagnosed with in 2008. Andy Sneap takes his place.

January 27, 2018 Huey Lewis loses his hearing before a concert in Dallas. He does the show singing way out of pitch and is later diagnosed with Ménière's disease, a rare condition that causes his hearing to come and go.

May 30, 2017 Olivia Newton-John postpones her US and Canadian tour to fight a recurrence of breast cancer, which has spread to her back. The 68-year-old singer had been in remission since 1992.

February 20, 2017 David Cassidy has not fallen off the wagon, the former Partridge Family star explains two days after giving what appeared to be a drunken performance at a concert outside of Los Angeles, complete with slurring and stumbling over lyrics. He tells People magazine the real reason for his behavior: dementia. Cassidy, whose grandfather and mother (actress Evelyn Ward) both had the disease, decides to stop touring, saying, "I want to focus on what I am, who I am and how I've been without any distractions. I want to love. I want to enjoy life."

December 30, 2016 Of Mice & Men lead singer Austin Carlile posts a letter on Instagram announcing he is leaving the group for health reasons.More

July 10, 2016 Aerosmith lead guitarist Joe Perry suffers a cardiac arrest while performing with Alice Cooper and Johnny Depp, fellow members of the supergroup The Hollywood Vampires, in Coney Island in Brooklyn, New York. The 65 year old is rushed to Coney Island hospital, where's he's listed in stable condition.

May 24, 2016 Gord Downie, lead singer of The Tragically Hip, announces that he has a terminal brain cancer called glioblastoma. Downie, who was diagnosed in December and has been going through treatment, does one last tour with the band, closing with a show in his hometown of Kingston, Ontario, on August 21.

May 7, 2016 After completing a tour with Guns N' Roses, Axl Rose takes over as lead singer for AC/DC, filling in for Brian Johnson at a show in Lisbon after Johnson is told that continuing the tour could result in permanent hearing loss. Rose fills in on the remaining dates as a guest vocalist.

September 26, 2015 The day after releasing his debut album, Up Next, rapper Fetty Wap is injured in a motorcycle accident in Paterson, New Jersey, when he collides head-on with an oncoming vehicle. His injuries put him out of action, but thanks to the hit single "Trap Queen," the album climbs the charts and hits #1 while he's still in the hospital. When Fetty returns to the stage on October 22 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, he does his set from a specially designed throne with his injured leg elevated.

February 3, 2015 Former Death Row Records CEO Suge Knight is rushed to the hospital after pleading not guilty in his connection with a fatal hit-and-run just days before. His friend Terry Carter was killed in the incident and actor Cle Denyale Sloan was injured during an altercation over the N.W.A. biopic Straight Outta Compton. Knight faces charges of murder and attempted murder, along with two counts of hit-and-run.

April 15, 2014 Years of alcohol abuse take their toll on Sum 41 frontman Deryck Whibley, who collapses in his kitchen and is placed in an induced coma. He makes a slow and painful recovery in which he has to relearn guitar.

October 27, 2013 Fleetwood Mac cancels the remaining dates of their world tour after co-founder John McVie is diagnosed with cancer.

August 23, 2013 In an interview with AARP Magazine, Linda Ronstadt reveals she has Parkinson's disease, which ended her singing career in 2009.

November 30, 2012 At the Uptown Theatre in Napa, California, 76-year-old Glen Campbell plays his final concert. It's the last stop on his Goodbye Tour, which began in September 2011 after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease. The tour runs much longer than expected, but when Campbell becomes disoriented during the show and struggles to get through eight songs, it becomes clear he can no longer perform.

August 31, 2012 Eddie Van Halen, of Van Halen lead-guitar fame, is rushed to the hospital for emergency surgery on his digestive system to correct a severe bout of diverticulitis. Tour dates with Van Halen are rescheduled as he recovers.

August 15, 2012 Members of the metal band Baroness are injured when their tour bus falls off the road while traveling in England. Lead singer John Baizley's left arm is shattered and his left leg broken; drummer Allen Blickle and bass player Matt Maggioni each suffer spinal fractures. Baizley manages to keep his arm and resume his duties as frontman/guitarist, but Blickle and Maggioni leave the band.

July 11, 2012 Florence Welch, lead woman for Florence + the Machine, faces ill health and a failing voice, causing the group to cancel two European concerts. She's forced to cancel on doctor's orders to avoid permanent damage to her famous contralto voice.

May 1, 2012 Bobby Vee announces that he's been diagnosed with Alzheimer's disease.

November 23, 2011 In Austria, George Michael is hospitalized mid-tour due to a serious bout with pneumonia. All remaining tour dates are postponed as the singer is placed in intensive care.

November 7, 2011 Adele, just 23, has laser surgery on her vocal chords at a hospital in Boston. The singer had to cancel many tour dates in 2011 because of her throat problems.

October 25, 2011 Steven Tyler of Aerosmith falls in a shower during a stay in a Paraguay hotel, knocking out two teeth. A local dentist repairs the famous mouth, and Tyler performs the next day.

October 20, 2011 John Mayer has throat surgery to treat a problem with his vocal cords, pushing back the release of his album Born and Raised.

September 12, 2011 Suffering from Alzheimer's disease, Glen Campbell performs "It's Your Amazing Grace" on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Campbell's memory is shot, but on stage he's able to perform, reading the lyrics from a teleprompter. He had just started his Goodbye Tour, which continues for more than a year, until his condition deteriorates to the point where he can no longer perform.

June 18, 2011 Leslie West of Mountain has his right leg amputated below the knee at a Biloxi, Mississippi, hospital the day after performing at the Hard Rock Cafe in the city. West later says, "when I play 'Mississippi Queen' now, I think about Jesus Christ."

June 11, 2011 Jessie J ruptures tendons in her foot while rehearsing for the Capital Radio Summertime Ball. She does her set the next day from a throne; 13 days later she would perform a seated set once again at the Glastonbury Festival.

March 16, 2011 Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine collapses backstage at a concert in Russia. He was in extreme pain from kidney stones but insisted on performing six songs for the crowd before going to the hospital 30 minutes later.