Country Star Phil Vassar Reveals He Died Twice After Heart Attack and Stroke: ‘No Heartbeat at All’

Phil Vassar opens up about the heart attack and stroke that left him twice dead.

In a new interview with Taste of Country published Thursday, Aug. 8, Vassar, 62, opened up about a serious medical emergency that occurred in early 2023.

The singer-songwriter said he wasn’t feeling well when he suffered a heart attack while on Christmas tour with Dean Carter. He also “doesn’t remember any of it” and attributed the medical emergency to a hereditary condition.

“I just had a genetic heart condition,” he said. “I wasn’t a drunk and a party person or anything like that. I worked out every day. You know, I was constantly feeling down so I just kept focusing on my health and trying to — I never ate anything fried or anything like that. It just caught up with me, you know, genes.”

The heart attack happened while Vassar was at home and someone was nearby to call 911. When medics arrived, he was shocked “11 times and broke his ribs.”

“They did a heck of a job getting me back,” Vassar noted.

Phil Vassar 2020

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Vassar added that he had a stroke three days after the heart attack while in the hospital.

“They iced me and told me to go: ‘Why was it so cold?’ Because you’re on ice, you know,” he recalled. “It was a strange thing, but I dropped dead. I was dead for 30 minutes several times – dead. No heartbeat. No heartbeat at all.”

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The musician said that people asked him what it was like to die, but he mostly remembers that he was not well and that he was constantly tired.

Since recovering, Vassar has returned to touring and performed 100 shows.

“Thank God for medicine,” he said of his recovery from the health crisis.

Phil Vassar 2023

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Just weeks after his death, Toby Keith is inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame

Earlier this year, Vassar spoke exclusively to PEOPLE about his collaboration with Jeffrey Steele, titled “Hillbillies in Hollywood.” This was his first music release after the heart attack.

“When you go through something as life-changing as a heart attack, you become more introspective and sentimental,” he said in February. “I want to play music that reflects that.”

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He added: “I have a lot of energy and a whole new outlook on life that I bring to the road and I’m ready to throw it away.”

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