Phil Vassar has no plans on quitting music, even after his heart nearly quit on him.
The singer-songwriter has been give a second chance on life—and music—just a year and a half after both a heart attack and stroke caused his heart to stop beating for nearly 30 minutes. He survived death twice on Feb. 4, 2023. Today Vassar plans on making the most of this country music second act.
“Doctors told me I should not be here,” Vassar says. “They said I was in a percentage of under 1%. The fact that [I’m] here and have any cognitive ability to walk around and do all this stuff, it’s a miracle. So I’m very blessed.”
Vassar has had a blessed career that began after college in Virginia en route to Nashville in the mid 1980s. His résumé includes nearly a dozen No.1 singles and 27 top 40 hits over a Nashville career that began in the late ‘90s. He’s also has just released a new single, “Like a Man’s Supposed To,” he co-wrote with longtime friend and collaborator Jeffrey Steele.
As an award-winning songwriter, Vassar’s also whipped up hits for superstars such as Kenny Chesney, Tim McGraw, and Alan Jackson. Back in 1998, Vassar wrote “I’m Alright” which singer Jo Dee Messina turned into a No. 1 hit.
Nearly 30 years later, he song’s title could serve as the theme to the country music veteran’s second act in life.
“My head’s clear, and I sing better now than I’ve sung all my life,” Vassar says. “It’s just a matter of getting out there and getting in better shape. I’ve kind of been doing that now for several months and getting back to touring next year.”
Before embarking on his successful career in Nashville, Vassar excelled athletically at the collegiate level in track and field. Up until this recent health scare, Vassar says he was still training relatively hard and heavy. Working out, according to Vassar, was supposed to be part of his fit plan to help prevent serious issues such as his heart attack and stroke. However, despite the seriousness of his condition, staying in relatively good shape he thinks could’ve what kept him alive, and keeping him moving forward today.
Although the incident happened in early 2023, Vassar just recently opened up entirely about both the heart attack and stroke during an interview with A Taste of Country.
Some elements of his country muscle routine have been toned down since the heart attack and stroke. Instead of hitting the weight room or running like his college days, Vassar’s wellness program is more reliant on long relaxing hikes. It’s helping him continue his quest to still make music at age 62, and perform in front of packed houses throughout the country like he is during his current Hits & Heroes tour.
“I was always a very physical guy,” he says. “During my shows, I loved jumping up and down off and doing flips and handstands. At some point, you probably have to stop doing that because you’ll end up on the floor and that’s embarrassing. But it’s been great.”
Phil Vassar Cheated Death—Twice
Other than what doctors told him following his health scare, Vassar has zero recollection of any of the details of Feb. 4, 2023, including his 30-minute date with death. “Everybody asked me, ‘Did you see anything? Did you see Elvis?’” he says. “And honestly, I don’t remember any of it.”
What he does remember thinking, however, was that how can a former athlete who still worked out, ate relatively healthy and drank in moderation, all in order to bulletproof himself from serious illness could have happened.
“I ran and worked out every day and ate right and the next thing I know, I was in a wheelchair, asking, ‘What in the world am I doing in this wheelchair?” Vassar recalls. “[Doctors] said I had a heart attack and a stroke. It was pretty, pretty traumatic.”
In retrospect, he says the warning signs were there, albeit subtle, including his father dying in his early 50s. Vassar wishes he paid a little more attention to the “little issues,” he had encountered before brushing them aside. He remembers suffering some bouts of what he called acid reflux or the times he moments catching his breath he would and brush aside. “That’s just your body telling you something’s wrong,” he admits. “I probably could have been on top of the blood work and stuff better,” he admits.
The most telling sign he recalls, was battling extreme fatigue. It got so bad at times, he says, that leading up to the heart attack his tour manager would have to almost pull him out of bed at times.
Still, the self-proclaimed fitness fanatic tried to make it to the gym. “I had a pretty healthy regimen, so I of course I worked out and tried to shake off the stuff out of me.”
Then on Feb. 4, while at home in Nashville, Vassar had suffered a heart attack. After 911 received a call, first responders arrived. In order to be revived, he said first responders had to shock him 11 at least 11 times, which caused several cracked ribs. Three days later while still at the hospital, Vassar suffered his stroke. This caused his heart to stop beating twice, for a total of nearly 30 minutes.
Vassar says that during this time, doctors had his arteries cleaned out, which he attributes to his quicker than expected recovery. From Nashville, Vassar was transferred to Atlanta’s Shepherd Center, where the “Six-Pack Summer” singer underwent intense rehabilitation.
Vassar says the treatment began with several rounds of cognitive-type exercises to ensure his brain was functioning properly. “That was probably a good thing,” he says.
Progress was slow, he recalls. The first steps toward physical exercise began by taking a few steps around the Atlanta facility. Short strolls progressively turned into longer walks around the facility—up to several miles a day, he says. Along with walking, Vassar begun adding basketball shootarounds as part of the program.
Now he says, nearly a year and a half since the stroke, it’s the best he’s felt in decades.
“I appreciate all the stuff [doctors] did.” Vassar says. “he says. “I feel way better now. I think I’m more focused now…but it took a little time to feel normal again.”
Phil Vassar
A Decathlete Mindset for Life
Before making gold records was even an idea, Vassar, like many other sports-obsessed kids in the ‘70s, wanted to win a gold medal for the USA, like 1976 Olympic hero decathlete Bruce Jenner (now Caitlyn Jenner).
“He was my hero,” Vassar says. “When he won the gold medal and was on the Wheaties box, I respected what he did and how hard he had to train.”
Vassar first showed his toughness as a star running back Brookeville High School in Lynchburg, VA. Like Jenner, however, track & field was his first passion. He was a two-time state champ (1979-80) in the jumping events. His success led to his decision to pursue the decathlon at James Madison, where he excelled before leaving school early in 1985 when the passion to pursue music became his obsession.
Vas may have left track & field early, but Vassar’s weight-training routine stuck with him throughout his music career. He boasts about nearly hitting a 400-pound bench press—and has the battle scars to prove it. “I was benching in the upper 300s, that’s probably why I tore my pec muscle,” he admits now. “I was trying so hard to work hard and feel better, I realized I was probably just injuring myself more.”
In 2014, the wear and tear from his sports days combined with his high energy nightly performances, in which leaping on and off his piano was part of the routine, Vassar underwent two knee replacements. Within three weeks, he says he was back on stage performing at nearly 100%. “Decathletes are a different breed,” he laughs.
This time, however, Vassar has had to scale it back a little, and he’s OK with that. He now skips chest day and instead opts for a more relaxing hiking and walking routine along the trails surrounding Nashville in Tennessee’s Blue Ridge Mountains. A good workout today includes a solid hike for up to 10 miles, which is impressive for an artist who was dead for 30 minutes in 2023.
“It puts you in a zone where you can just sort of focus on anything and the whole world goes away,” he says. “And sometimes you’ll see a bear walking by or the lakes and the fish. Being this close to nature makes me happy.”
Phil Vassar Isn’t Ready for a Curtain Call Just Yet
Vassar’s newest song “Like A Man’s Supposed To,” kicks off perhaps the final leg of his long and storied melody-making career. The upbeat, saxophone heavy-collaboration arrives nearly a quarter century since his debut single, “Carlene,” reached No. 5 on the Billboard charts in 2000 while that self-titled album went gold. The piano-playing singer-songwriter went on to 10 No.1 singles including perhaps his most famous “Just Another Day in Paradise.”
Looking back at his music success, Vassar now realizes how quickly a career flies by—and after battling his near-fatal health issues, how sudden it can end. He’s also had to deal with the losses of some of his closest friends in the industry, most notably country icons Toby Keith and Jimmy Buffet. At the same time, other icons of the industry such as Alan Jackson, Billy Joel and Elton John are closing the curtains on their long and legendary careers. He may have cheated death once—or in his case twice—but seeing music’s finish line has become a hard reality.
“That crosses my mind every day,” he says. “Losing Toby was a hard thing. It was tough to see him go through that. And Jimmy Buffett, I loved that man. And when you have Billy Joel and Elton John retiring—two of my idols—you start to realize you’re on the back end of your career.”
A heart attack and stroke has given Vassar the time to reflect on some of his early show biz shenanigans. Afterall, he says, he learned the ropes from the heaviest hitters—and arguably hardest players of country music—Merle Haggard, George Jones and Conway Twitty.
“George did it all, but he was such a good man, Vassar says. “They [all] said, ‘Man, just take it easy on your body, it’s the only body you got. And, you know what? Now that I’m getting up in age, I realize it was good advice. I should have listened more.”
Today, Vassar looks at Tim McGraw, and Kenny Chesney as role models for longevity. Once he says, during his athlete days, he would be able to hang with them in the weightroom. “I have a lot of respect for those guys, he says. “They really take care of themselves. They eat well, do all the right things to just keep that healthy lifestyle.”
Now, after knee replacements, torn pecs, and of course keeping a close watch on his heart, Vassar will happily settle for long walks and hikes along the Blue Ridge Mountains or whatever trail is near his next show venue. However, now that he’s been given a second chance to step onstage and again entertain audiences for 90-plus minutes a night, he’s main goal, for the rest of this tour and for the full tour he anticipates for 2025, is to take a step back and soak in, the satisfaction of his career.
“When you go through something like this, you appreciate every day,” he says. “A lot of it got away from me. It was 25 years of blur, from doing records, recording albums and doing radio and videos. It was intense. Now I’m at a point where I can just be myself and play my songs and entertain. And I like that.”
