Mark Chesnutt has been receiving prayers from the country music world since he was rushed to the hospital last week prior to a show and was forced to cancel a show on Saturday as he continued to recover.
Now we know a little bit more about what the 62-year-old’s issues were.
His publicist, Don Murry Grubbs, told Countrynow.com that doctors discovered that Chesnutt had a “low sodium count” and “very high blood pressure.”
“Mark wants to apologize to the fans who came to see him in Baton Rouge and also to those who had planned to see him yesterday in Portales, New Mexico,” the statement read. “He hope to be back to perform in both cities soon.”
Chesnutt, 62, reportedly fell ill on Thursday before opening for the legendary group, Alabama, at the Raising Cane’s River Center in Louisiana.
He was admitted to the hospital there.
The singer was slated to perform on Saturday at the One Portales Wine, Beer and Music Festival in New Mexico, but he cancelled that appearance.
“Due to unforeseen circumstances, Mark Chesnutt will no longer be able to perform at the One Portales Wine, Beer and Music Festival,” Eastern New Mexico University announced. “We unfortunately will have to cancel the event. Refunds will be emailed to all ticket buyers in the upcoming days.”
Chesnutt has had a series of health issues across the past several years, including a scary heart problem last year that resulted in him receiving a quadruple bypass.
And, in an interview with American Songwriter earlier this year, country he revealed that his heart issues last year were not the first time he nearly lost his life.
In fact, Chesnutt laid out a series of health issues that became progressively worse across the past couple of years. He had a fractured spine that he lived with for years that finally needed to be fixed.
And, while he was recovering from that back during the pandemic, he picked up a drinking habit that took control and nearly took his life, too. He was off the road because of the virus and laid up after having back surgery.
“It was getting worse and worse, and my surgery was a major major one,” he said. “I couldn’t work. I was laid up, didn’t drive, couldn’t walk, couldn’t do anything.”
Chesnutt said he “drank all day, every day.”
“I’d get up in the middle of the night and drink,” he said. “I’d never stop.”
Chesnutt said he grew up in a time when “it was normal for everybody to drink all the time.”
“I just took it to the extreme,” he said, “and it about killed me.”
That is when he said he had his wife call for an ambulance.
“I knew I was dying,” he said.
American Songwriter reported that doctors gave the singer four blood transfusions and told him his heart was “on the edge of cardiac arrest.” Chesnutt said they told his wife if she had not called when she did, he likely would not have survived another two days. The singer told the site he was in a Knoxville hospital for a week where he learned that all of his organs, and especially his heart, were on the verge of shutting down.
“I was bleeding out from the inside,” Chesnutt said. “They basically told me they were gonna get me over this, and I was going to be fine, and they could fix everything wrong with me. But if they discharged me and I went home and I started drinking again, I’d be back in a matter of days, and I might not leave alive.
“I had to quit drinking or die.”
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.pennlive.com ’
