Paul Rodgers Reveals He Couldn’t Speak After Multiple Strokes

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Paul Rodgers revealed that he’s suffered through 13 strokes in the past seven years.

The Bad Company singer detailed his health woes during an interview on CBS Mornings. During the appearance, Rodgers reported that he went through 11 “minor strokes” and two major ones – one in 2016 and another in 2019. It was the latter health scare that left him severely debilitated.

“I couldn’t do anything, to be honest,” he explained. “I couldn’t speak. That was the very strange thing. You know, I’d prepare something in my mind and I’d say it, but that isn’t what came out and I’d go, ‘What the heck did I just say?’”

‘You May Not Come Out of This Alive’

Doctors performed an endarterectomy on Rodgers, a procedure to remove plaque clogging one of the singer’s arteries. The surgery was not without risks.

READ MORE: Why Paul Rodgers Didn’t Perform ‘All Right Now’ for 18 Years

“They cut the neck and [the doctor] said that he was very careful because he knew I was a singer and that when you cut the neck it’s very close to the vocal cords,” Rodgers explained. “They told me, they were very clear, ‘You may not come out of this alive.’”

The singer’s wife, Cynthia Kereluk Rodgers, described the ordeal as “terrifying.” “I was just praying,” she admitted. “All I wanted to be able to do was walk and talk with him again. That’s all I asked for.”

How Long Was Paul Rodgers in Recovery?

Following his surgery, it took six months before Rodgers picked up a guitar again. Singing took even longer, but gradually the skills came back to him.

“Each thing was a step forward,” Rodgers recalled. “Each thing that I did was an achievement. ‘Oh, I can do this. I can sing.’”