What’s Really Going on With Jered Threatin + Return to Music

Jered Threatin has made his musical return with a new song called “Die Young” and a harrowing video documenting some of his recent health issues.

Threatin first landed on the radar of many rock and metal fans back in 2018 when he orchestrated one of music’s biggest hoaxes. The musician managed to book a European tour by fooling promoters with fake YouTube videos, pretending to have a large fanbase and even tricking bandmates into taking part.

As the musician told Rolling Stone at the time, “There was no way that I was going to get enough attention being a rock artist in 2018 unless I did something to get people to pay attention … It’s a publicity stunt, but the music is very real.”

While the publicity stunt brought international attention and headlines, Threatin had largely remained out of the public eye after the stunt ran its course, but a new video from the musician arrived in late January revealing that Threatin had been dealing with some serious health issues.

Those issues are detailed below.

Loudwire has also reached out with further questions about Threatin’s medical condition, diagnosis, surgeries and plans for more new music, which you can learn more about further down the page.

Jered Threatin’s “Die Young” Song + Video

In the clip, Threatin is featured throughout being treated in a hospital. The video opens with heart monitor beeps before we see the singer in his hospital bed. At moments in the video, he’s intubated, there are disturbing clips of the musician coughing up blood and we see that he ultimately undergoes surgery.

At the end of the video, you can see the musician undoing his hospital gown and acknowledging a large operation scar down his sternum. After expressing a “Wow,” his wife asks, “is that what you were expecting?,” before he offers a head shake acknowledgement.

A message accompanying the video states, “​Due to severe health issues, Jered Threatin has been hospitalized. After years of misdiagnosis, it was discovered that he had a life-threatening illness. Following a series of heart attacks, he underwent an emergency open-heart surgery that left him in a coma.”

“In a race against his declining health, ‘Die Young’ was recorded in the weeks leading up to his hospitalization. The new song has been released with a music video / mini-documentary that chronicles his battle with the fatal condition.”

CONTENT WARNING: Music video may be disturbing or triggering to some individuals.

Threatin, “Die Young”

About Jered Threatin’s Condition + Recovery

Upon learning of the news through Jered Threatin’s song and music video, we sent an email and received a response saying it was his wife, Kelsey, who had more details to share.

She explained of the musician’s medical condition, “He was diagnosed with CTEPH, or Chronic Thromboembolic Pulmonary Hypertension. Upon receiving this diagnosis, he was immediately rushed into emergency PTE surgery, known formally as Pulmonary Thromboendarterectomy.”

The American Lung Association describes CTEPH as “a rare and progressive form of pulmonary hypertension which can develop when chronic pulmonary embolism, or blood clots, form scar-like tissue in the lung’s arteries, blocking or narrowing the arteries.”

About the effects on the human body, the Association states, “CTEPH results in blood clots getting stuck in the lungs, clogging the arteries, and causing the formation of scar-like tissue. As a result, the right side of your heart has to work harder. This increased work for the heart can result in heart failure. The oxygen level in the blood can also drop too low because of the increased time it takes for blood to travel through the lungs. This can result in damage to your cells, tissues, and organs which all need oxygen in order for you to be healthy.”

UC San Diego Health explains the nature of the PTE procedure as last eight to 10 hours. It “involves opening the chest and attaching the patient to a heart-lung bypass machine, then cooling the patient’s body to about 64-68 degrees Fahrenheit.” The reason for the reduced body temperature is because “the cold temperature reduces the body’s need for oxygen and protects organs during this unique surgery.”

The health organization continues, “During critical parts, the surgeons turn off the heart-lung machine, stopping circulation for up to 20 minutes, to create a bloodless surgical field. Then they open the arteries blocked by chronic clots and scar tissue. They repeat the on-off process with the heart-lung bypass machine until all the obstructing material is removed.”

READ MORE: 2025 Hard Rock + Metal Album Release Calendar

According to Kelsey, Threatin has sought for years to find an answer to some of his ongoing health issues.

“Over the last decade, he’s had numerous hospital stays, each marked by repeated misdiagnoses and statements from doctors like, ‘I’ve never seen anything like this,'” she stated. “As his condition worsened, we consulted with dozens of specialists in an effort to pinpoint the cause. Each hospital stay grew longer than the last. After enduring several heart attacks and slipping into heart failure, he was finally properly diagnosed and sent to do an emergency surgery. The most current hospital stay has stretched over a month.”

As for his expected recovery timeline, Kelsey added, “After the PTE surgery and awakening from the coma, he had to relearn how to breathe and even walk independently. Though he’s still on oxygen, his breathing has improved. But his chest, which was wired shut as part of the procedure, is expected to take over a year to fully heal, assuming there are no further complications.”

Will There Be More Jered Threatin Music?

According to Kelsey, Threatin had been working on new music in the time leading up to his hospitalization. “As his health rapidly declined, he raced to complete his second album, The Meaning of It All. He was barely able to finish before being hospitalized,” she wrote. “It was just mastered at Abbey Road Studios and will be released soon.”

For now, “Die Young” serves as the first release from his forthcoming album.