Phil Alvin, the 69-year-old singer and guitarist of Americana and roots rockers The Blasters, is currently in the hospital, according to a post by Sweet Relief Musicians Fund.
“Right now Phil is in the hospital and he needs our help,” a post on the official website reads. “He has had several medical emergencies and hospital stays over the last six years or so. It’s been a very trying time. The goal is to get him well enough to leave the hospital, get into physical rehab and back home.”
Though it doesn’t specify exactly why he’s in the hospital, the Brea-based nonprofit is currently taking donations through its official website for Alvin’s care since The Blasters aren’t able to play shows and the medical procedures Alvin has had are costly.
Alvin’s longtime friends in the Los Angeles punk rock band X shared a link to the donation site on Instagram on Wednesday morning, Jan. 25. The post features a photo of Alvin, sporting his huge signature Cheshire cat grin.
Founded by singer-songwriter Victoria Williams in 1994, Sweet Relief Musicians Fund provides financial assistance to career musicians and music industry workers who face physical and mental health issues, disability or age-related problems.
The Blasters formed in Downey in the late ’70s. Though brothers and co-founders Phil and Dave Alvin have had their spats through the years, they came together back in 2013 for a one-off benefit show that raised money to pay for medical bills Phil incurred following a hospitalization in late 2010. During an interview in 2013, Dave explained that his brother had been hospitalized at Kaiser Medical Center in Downey with MRSA, a dangerous and severely contagious skin infection on his leg. After months of antibiotics and recovery, the band finally hit the road in 2012 to promote its album “Fun on a Saturday Night.”
During the first show, Phil Alvin had to leave the stage and his throat swelled shut and he was unable to breathe. He was rushed to the emergency room where he had flatlined and was pronounced dead, according to Dave Alvin. But a nurse named Maria brought him back to life.
Though Dave Alvin left The Blasters in 1986 and embarked on his own successful solo career, he still pops back into the band from time to time. In 2020, he revealed he had undergone successful treatment for stage four colorectal cancer.
In 2021, X headlined the Pacific Amphitheatre in Costa Mesa along with Los Lobos and The Blasters as the OC Fair returned to hosting live entertainment following the COVID-19 shutdowns.
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