Status Quo’s Rick Parfitt has suffered a suspected heart attack after a show in Turkey.
Status Quo has released the following statement:
In the early hours of Wednesday 15 June 2016 following the Status Quo gig at Expo 2016 in Antalya, Turkey, Rick Parfitt suffered a suspected heart attack.
He is being treated in a hospital in Turkey and whilst his condition is serious, he has already demanded his customary cup of tea with two sugars and a sweetener.
The band had already agreed to perform at the Rock On Windermere charity show on Saturday 18th June to raise funds for the Cumbria Flood Appeal. Rick and the band did not want to cancel this important show, and so it will go ahead with Freddie Edwards, the son of Quo bassist John ‘Rhino’ Edwards, stepping in for Rick. It is likely that Freddie will stay with the band to allow them to honour their commitments and not let down the fans up to and including the show on Sunday 3 July at Gröna Lund Tivoli, in Stockholm, Sweden.
Simon Porter, the band’s manager said, “No further comment will be made at this stage until the completion of the next round of tests and assessments to be made over the next few days. We would ask you to respect the family’s privacy at this difficult time.”
Parfitt, who was appointed an OBE (Officer of the Order of the British Empire) in 2010, joined the group The Spectres in 1965 which, after a couple of name changes, became Status Quo. While in the U.S., they only charted twice including 1968’s Pictures of Matchstick Men, they were huge in Britain where they had 71 charted hits including number 1’s Down Down (1974) and Come On You Reds (1994). They have also topped the British Albums chart four times.
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