16-07-2025
Country music legend plays for fans while awaiting surgery after stroke
Ronnie McDowell has not let his recent health scare get in the way of his live performances.
The country music legend played two shows this past weekend as part of his 'Fan Appreciation' weekend, according to his son.
The concerts came more than three weeks after McDowell, 75, was hospitalized after he had a stroke on stage.
'Well, it's about 5:00 in the morning, I just got home from getting everything squared away with the incredible concerts that DAD had for his Fan Appreciation Weekend,' Ronnie McDowell Jr. wrote in a Facebook post Sunday, July 13.
'Thank you all for coming out and making the concerts huge successes. A huge thank you to my wife and our son for that magnificent video and song that was shown during the show,' he wrote. 'I'm going to get some R&R and then I'll be ready to rock with my brother Nick Cross at Laylas at 2:00 p.m. today.... Thank you All again for coming out to the shows this weekend and for tuning in and making dad feel so special.'
Both shows on Friday, July 11 and Saturday, July 12 were live-streamed on Ronnie's Facebook page.
'It was really a great weekend with Ronnie McDowell and his band,' one Facebook user commented on Ronnie Jr.'s post.
'Thank you for the wonderful show. I am so glad your dad is doing so well,' another comment reads. 'I know it's a full time job to make sure he doesn't over do it. I hope you are getting so good rest.'
Ronnie was released from the hospital Monday, June 23 after he began to slur his words and started 'not making sense' after a few songs while he was performing at the Summer Solstice Music Festival in Oley, Pennsylvania the Saturday before, WKRN reported. A tour manager told the outlet the singer thought he had a stroke. He was then brought to a hospital in Reading for treatment.
'I know you're all concerned. I promise — no one is more worried than I am," Ronnie's other son Tyler wrote in a Facebook post on June 21. 'Please understand, this is an incredibly stressful time, and right now, my focus is on my Dad. If there's anything that needs to be shared, I promise — we will."
On Sunday, June 22, Tyler revealed his father underwent an MRI and that he and his brother spent the day with Ronnie in the hospital. Ronnie Jr. said his father was discharged the next day. In a Facebook post on Wednesday, June 25, Ronnie Jr. said his father was 'doing much better.'
Ronnie Jr. last updated fans on Monday, July 7, saying that his father was 'doing great' and had a consultation with a vascular surgeon who then set him up with a neurosurgeon for July 14.
'That will be the day that we have more to report and pray we have a surgery date to report by then,' Ronnie Jr. wrote in a Facebook post on Monday, July 7. 'This will be to address the blockage in his carotid artery, that caused the stroke. Other than that, he's sounding great and he's doing great, so please keep the prayers coming!'
Ronnie Jr. added that his father has 'been a trooper' and ensured that he will get 'the best care there is.'
He also promised to keep people updated on his father's progress.
With a career spanning nearly five decades, Ronnie has charted more than 30 top 40 hits on the Billboard country music charts. Two of his singles — 'Older Women' and 'You're Gonna Ruin My Bad Reputation' — reached were No. 1 hits.
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Read the original article on MassLive.
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