Robert Fripp has revealed he recently suffered a heart attack and is recovering from two emergency surgeries.
The King Crimson guitarist – who also wrote a fascinating trio of albums with The Police’s Andy Summers – turns 79 later this week (May 16), but remains in fine spirits despite the health scare.
Dedicating his latest Upbeat Moments video with his wife and partner in Sunday Lunch insanity Toyah Willcox to reveal the news, they’ve explained how it started with chest pains, which had been persistent for “a couple of weeks”.
“You have had a pretty exceptional two weeks,” Toyah says at the start of the video while looking her husband in the eyes. He then states, “My upbeat moment is: I'm alive.”
Fripp had chalked his pains off as acid reflux. He was then getting ready to fly out to Italy to play at an Orchestra Of Crafty Guitarists in Bergamo, and with the pains ongoing, he arranged to see a doctor upon his arrival.
Toyah says her husband found himself “in the right place at the right time” – after an assessment, he was rushed to the hospital. But Fripp wasn’t quite convinced by some of the hospital’s methods.
“Well here's the interesting bit,” he says. “I was in A&E not quite knowing what was going on other than I knew they were going to do something, and an orderly came along and shaved my balls!
Fripp says he was diagnosed as having a trifurcated artery. A pair of stents were inserted during the two surgeries.
Willcox visibly starts to tear up as she explains how the language barrier, with so few medical staff at the hospital able to speak English, shrouded the events in stress and uncertainty. At one point Fripp mistakenly started to remove his clothing when he had been asked what he wanted to eat.
“They were complex moments,” Fripp underscores.
Though unable to perform at the event in the picturesque and mountainous Italian city, he was still able to play a starring role by directing the Guitar Circle show.
“It was stunning,” Fripp purrs. “The audience were prepped with orchestral maneuvers and it really was a magical event for me.”
After giving the band his blessing, Fripp has been watching Beat – the King Crimson tribute band featuring Steve Vai and Adrian Belew – closely from afar. Vai revealed that three days into their first tour, he received an email from Fripp who offered some handy pointers for a song that was getting the best of him.
Guitar World wishes Fripp a speedy recovery.
