Phil Vassar on the Heart Attack That Killed Him – TWICE! [Interview]

Phil Vassar says his doctors told him he had no chance. A heart attack and stroke didn't just nearly kill him, it did kill him.

"I dropped dead," he tells Taste of Country. "I was dead for 30 minutes a couple times. No heartbeat. No heartbeat at all."

• Vassar is known for hits like "Carlene," "Just Another Day in Paradise" and "In a Real Love."
• He also wrote hit songs from Jo Dee Messina, Tim McGraw, Diamond Rio and Collin Raye.
• The medical event happened over 18 months ago, in early 2023.

Spoiler alert: Vassar tells Taste of Country Nights' Evan Paul that today, he's feeling great and is back to touring again.

"I'm not pounding it like I used to," he adds. "I think I did 100 shows that one year — the year I croaked. But I mean, I feel great. I mean, I love singing. I appreciate it more, I can tell you that."

Two new duets with hit songwriter Jeffery Steele are a glimpse at a full album the two are working on. The sexy "Like a Man's Supposed to Be" and biographical "Hillbillies in Hollywood" dropped earlier this summer, and Vassar says he's thrilled to be having fun with an old friend in the studio again.

Related: 40 Country Stars Who Died Too Soon

One can understand his fresh perspective.

The full, unedited interview with Vassar will drop on Aug. 14 on the Taste of Country Nights: On Demand podcast. In that chat, Vassar recalls his early days as a bar owner and his friendship with Toby Keith while talking about the exciting things he has planned for 2024 and 2025.

Taste of Country: How are you feeling?

Vassar: I feel great.

You had a heart attack?

And a stroke.

I don't remember any of it, but I know I wasn't feeling well. And I just had genetic heart disease. Cause I wasn't a drinker and a partier, or any of that. I worked out every day. You know, I kept feeling bad, so I kept really concentrating on my health and trying to — I never ate anything fried or anything like that. Never did. It just caught up with me, you know, the genes.

You had the stroke at the same time?

Three days later, in the hospital. So they shot me straight down to Atlanta. Stroke protocol, all that stuff. So they iced me down and they said I was going, "Why was it so cold?" Cause you're on ice, you know. So it was a weird thing, but I dropped dead. I was dead for 30 minutes a couple times – died. No heartbeat. No heartbeat at all.

I gotta know, man, what's it like? What's it like dying?

Everybody was like, you know, "Hey, what was it like going, did you go through a tunnel?" I said, "Yeah, I don't remember anything." I just wasn't feeling good before. And I don't remember. I was out doing a Christmas tour with Deana Carter right before all that happened. And I don't remember it either.

Where were you?

I was at the house. And if I hadn't been with somebody ... [trails off]. But anyway, she was on her toes enough to call 911. They talked her through it and they said, "Listen to him breathing."

[Her]: "He's turning blue!"

He said, "Well, he's having a heart attack."

She's like, "Oh, my God."

So she started doing CPR until the crew got there and they they brought me back. They had to shock me 11 times and cracked some ribs. Broke my ribs. But I don't remember any of that. But they did a heck of a job getting me back, you know?

What did you learn about yourself going through this process on the backend that you could reflect on?

I don't think I ever want to do it again. I wish I could speak about it, you know, but I just know I wasn't feeling well. And I was tired a lot and I just was like, "Man, what is wrong?" You know?

But my tour manager, my bandleader said, "Man, I'd have to get you out of bed to go on stage." He said, "You were tired all the time," and that was never me, you know?

Are you able to still tour, like, at full speed now?

Well, I am. I am. I'm back on tour. And I'm back, you know, doing what I always do. I'm not pounding it like I used to. I think I did 100 shows that one year ... the year I croaked.

I feel great. I mean, I love singing. I appreciate it more, I can tell you that. We appreciate being here, being alive.

I mean, thank goodness for medicine. I probably would not have lived a few years ago, but they now they can stint you and fix your — I mean, you think you're doing everything right, and then it all goes wrong, right? It's just weird that way. But that's his life, I suppose.

Billy Dukes is a Senior Editor and Executive Producer of Video Content at Taste of Country. He specializes in country music interviews, trend analysis and the Secret History of Country Music. Additionally, Billy covers Yellowstone, 1923 and related television shows through the Dutton Rules podcast. To date, he's written more than 13,000 articles for Taste of Country and produced over 3,000 videos for the Taste of Country YouTube channel.