Pick a Day

Music History Events: Health Issues

January 1, 2011 An 84-year-old Chuck Berry collapses on stage in Chicago at a New Year's Day concert. He makes a full recovery.

January 15, 2010 Charlie Daniels is rushed to the hospital after suffering a stroke. Daniels recovers and is released from the hospital two days later.

November 23, 2009 Little Richard has hip replacement surgery, which does not go well. The rocker will never walk again and remains in constant pain.

November 27, 2007 Songstress and author Rosanne Cash, daughter of Johnny Cash, undergoes brain surgery to relieve pressure on her brain stem from a malformation. The operation is successful, and Rosanne recovers.

April 6, 2004 Wilco's frontman, Jeff Tweedy, checks into a rehabilitation center after developing an addiction to painkillers. A statement released by the band reads: "The treatment follows a well-documented history of Tweedy's battle with migraine headache."

July 26, 2002 A week before he is due to sign a contract with Universal South Records, Matthew West suffers a serious injury to his arm. Having accidentally locked himself in his house, West attempts to escape through a window, but his arm goes straight through the glass pane. West is rushed to hospital, where he is told he came close to severing a major artery. He will go on to fully recover from the incident.

July 9, 2001 During an appearance on MTV's TRL, four of the Backstreet Boys announce their Black & Blue tour will be put on hold so their fifth member, AJ McLean, can enter rehab to treat alcoholism and depression.

March 3, 1998 After spending nearly two years promoting her debut album, Tidal, a burned-out Fiona Apple cancels her spring tour. From this point forward, she limits her public appearances and takes lots of down time, sometimes going several years between albums.

October 25, 1997 During a concert in Flint, Michigan, Johnny Cash tells the crowd he has Parkinson's Disease after he falls over trying to pick up a guitar pick. The crowd thinks he's joking, but Cash's manager confirms it in a statement two days later.

July 11, 1994 At the Kansas City stop of Lollapalooza, where The Verve are the only British act on the bill, their frontman Richard Ashcroft collapses into convulsions and taken away in an ambulance after getting drunk with members of The Breeders and The Bad Seeds. That night, Verve drummer Pete Salisbury is arrested for destroying his hotel room. Says Ashcroft, "America nearly killed us."

March 6, 1994 Frank Sinatra collapses on stage during a concert in Richmond, Virginia. The aging crooner would retire the following year, at age 79.

October 17, 1990 The Judds say goodbye. With daughter Wynonna by her side, Naomi Judd announces her retirement from music due to her illness with Hepatitis C. After the duo's farewell tour, Wynonna releases her first solo album in 1992.

October 9, 1990 West Side Story composer Leonard Bernstein, 72, retires from conducting due to emphysema. He dies five days later.

December 15, 1986 At the Oakland Coliseum Arena, the Grateful Dead play their first concert since frontman Jerry Garcia slipped into a diabetic coma six months earlier. With Garcia's heath scare, it was unclear if the band would continue, but Garcia reassures fans with the opening number, "Touch Of Grey," as he sings, "I will get by. I will survive."

February 21, 1983 Performing in Cleveland on the ninth date of a 48-date US tour, Adam Ant collapses on stage with torn cartilage in his knee; he returns after being seen by a doctor and finishes on one leg.

October 26, 1980 While recording the band's latest album, Paul Kantner of Jefferson Starship is taken to LA's Cedars-Sinai Medical Center after he (correctly) suspects he's having a brain hemorrhage. His wife initially doesn't believe him, but eventually calls the hospital's front desk, requesting "would you please get an ambulance for this asshole?" He recovers after two weeks' hospitalization.

May 16, 1974 Queen cut their first US tour short when guitarist Brian May comes down with hepatitis. They return to action November 30, touring behind their third album, Sheer Heart Attack.

October 24, 1937 Cole Porter is involved in a horrific accident. While riding his horse in Locust Valley, New York, the animal falls and rolls over onto him, crushing his legs. He will spend the rest of his life in constant pain.

October 4, 1922 Marie Lloyd collapses on stage at the Empire Hall, Edmonton. She dies three days later.