Mark Chesnutt, the 61-year-old country music icon, recently shared the full story of his health struggles in an interview with American Songwriter. While many know about his quadruple bypass surgery last year and his return to touring, Chesnutt revealed that his health crisis began long before that.
Over the past few years, Chesnutt faced a series of worsening health problems. He lived with a fractured spine for years, which eventually required major surgery. During his recovery from back surgery, which happened during the pandemic, he developed a severe drinking problem.
“I couldn’t work. I was laid up, didn’t drive, couldn’t walk, couldn’t do anything,” Chesnutt said. He admitted to drinking all day and night, saying, “I’d get up in the middle of the night and drink. I’d never stop.”
Chesnutt explained that he grew up in a time when heavy drinking was common, but his habit became extreme and nearly killed him. At his lowest point, he asked his wife to call an ambulance because he “knew I was dying.”
Doctors gave Chesnutt four blood transfusions and warned that his heart was close to cardiac arrest. They told his wife that if she hadn’t called when she did, he might not have survived two more days. Chesnutt spent a week in a Knoxville hospital, learning that his organs, especially his heart, were failing.
“I was bleeding out from my inside,” he said. Doctors told him they could fix his problems, but warned that if he went home and started drinking again, he would likely return to the hospital and might not survive.
“I had to quit drinking or die,” Chesnutt said. He took his last drink on November 1, 2023.
In 2024, Chesnutt faced another health challenge with his heart and underwent a quadruple bypass surgery. Now, he has made a remarkable recovery and is back on the road, touring.
