A legend of country music who once worked with Dolly Parton was urgently rushed to hospital after fans noticed he’d begun slurring his words during a live performance.
Ronnie McDowell, 75, has a career that spans six decades, getting his big break after writing a tribute song to Elvis Presley after his death aged 42 in 1977.
Since then, Ronnie has recorded 23 solo albums and landed several number one singles on the US country music charts throughout the 1980s.
He was on stage at the Summer Solstice Music Festival over the weekend when he reportedly began to feel unwell after performing just a handful of his songs.
The new music gathering took place on June 21 in the town of Oley, Pennsylvania, which is situated 50 miles to the north-west of nearest major city Philadelphia.
Ronnie’s tour manager told Nashville, Tennessee radio station WKRN that the singer’s enunciation started to sound ‘off’ just a short time into his set on Saturday night.
According to reports, the Older Women hitmaker was ‘not making sense’ when he made it to the side of the stage and was worried that he may be experiencing a stroke.
He was then immediately taken to a hospital in nearby small city Reading for further tests, with his family later giving an update those who were in attendance at Summer Solstice.
Ronnie’s son Tyler gave a statement on Sunday: ‘I just wanted to let everyone know—I made it to Pennsylvania. Ronnie [Jr.], Dean, and me are in the room with [Ronnie].’
Tyler then revealed that the King Is Gone singer would be undergoing tests and scans as soon as possible to determine the cause of the incident in Oley.
The statement concluded: ‘[Ronnie] is talking to us, and we’re waiting to do the MRI. As soon as I know more, so will y’all. Love Forever, Tyler.’
Tyler had said in another statement on Instagram that he hadn’t traveled with his father to Pennsylvania for this show, and that seeing the headlines about Ronnie were his ‘worst nightmare’.
‘Seeing these headlines on social media is what I’ve always dreaded. It’s like a nightmare. Scans are in the morning. If praying’s your thing, I’d appreciate it.’
On Facebook, Teresa Johnson said: ‘Tell Ronnie everyone is praying for him and a speedy recovery! We love you! So glad Tyler you made it safe! Give him all our love and hugs.’
While Ronnie’s career began in earnest in the late 1970s with the Presley tribute song, his most successful decade was the 1980s – he landed two country charts number ones.
Before that, he had served in the US Navy between 1968 and 1972 and was briefly stationed in Vietnam during the prolonged war effort.
Between 1980 and 1987, he landed a total of 13 hits on the US country chart and achieved four number-one singles on the Canadian country charts.
In 2023, Ronnie was featured on 9 to 5 icon Dolly’s album Rockstar, singing her own Presley tribute song, I Dreamed About Elvis.
The latest update was a positive one, with Tyler saying that they’d brought his dad some snacks to the hospital and that he was ‘like a kid in a candy store’ following all the love and affection he’s received.
Got a story?
If you’ve got a celebrity story, video or pictures get in touch with the Metro.co.uk entertainment team by emailing us celebtips@metro.co.uk, calling 020 3615 2145 or by visiting our Submit Stuff page – we’d love to hear from you.
