The Blasters’ Phil Alvin hospitalized with an undisclosed illness – Orange County Register
Phil Alvin, the 69-year-old singer and guitarist for Americana and roots rockers The Blasters, is currently in the hospital, according to a contribution from the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund.
“Right now Phil is in the hospital and needs our help,” reads a post on the official website. “He has had multiple medical emergencies and hospitalizations over the past six years. It was a very trying time. The goal is to get him healthy enough to leave the hospital, go into physical rehab and go home again.”
While it is not specifically stated why he is in the hospital, the Brea-based nonprofit is currently accepting donations through its official website for Alvin’s care due to the Blasters’ inability to play shows and the medical procedures Alvin underwent are costly.
Alvin’s longtime friends in Los Angeles punk rock band X shared a link to the donation page on Instagram on Wednesday morning, January 25. The post features a photo of Alvin sporting his huge signature Cheshire cat grin.
Founded in 1994 by singer-songwriter Victoria Williams, the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund provides financial assistance to career musicians and music industry employees who are facing physical and mental health issues, disabilities or age-related issues.
The Blasters formed in Downey in the late 1970s. Though brothers and co-founders Phil and Dave Alvin have had their issues over the years, they reunited in 2013 for a one-off benefit show raising money to pay for the medical bills Phil incurred after being hospitalized in late 2010. In an interview in 2013, Dave explained that his brother had been hospitalized at Kaiser Medical Center in Downey with MRSA, a dangerous and highly contagious skin infection on his leg. After months of antibiotics and recovery, the band finally hit the road in 2012 to promote their album Fun on a Saturday Night.
During the first show, Phil Alvin had to leave the stage and his throat swelled up and he couldn’t breathe. He was taken to the emergency room, where he had a flatline and was pronounced dead, according to Dave Alvin. But a nurse named Maria brought him back to life.
Although Dave Alvin left The Blasters in 1986 and began his own successful solo career, he still appears in the band from time to time. In 2020, he announced that he had undergone successful treatment for stage IV colon cancer.
In 2021, X co-headlined the Pacific Amphitheater in Costa Mesa with Los Lobos and The Blasters as the OC Fair resumed hosting live entertainment following the COVID-19 shutdowns.
https://www.ocregister.com/2023/01/25/the-blasters-phil-alvin-has-been-hospitalized-with-an-unknown-illness/ The Blasters’ Phil Alvin hospitalized with an undisclosed illness – Orange County Register
