LBT Jimi’s Vocal Surgery Details

It’s been a few weeks since Little Big Town singer Jimi Westbrook had emergency vocal chord surgery.  The group immediately canceled their shows for the month of July.  This week, the group’s Philip & Kimberly co-hosted Country Countdown USA, and gave host Lon Helton all the details:

Philip Sweet explained: “We all go see voice doctors, and it all gets checked out regularly. Actually, his voice got tired, it’s just a muscle, and there was a little bit of a polyp that got soft, and they wanted to get it before it got bad.  So this is actually a great thing that he went in and did, and he’ll be much better afterwards, and the rest is gonna be great too.”

Kimberly added: “It had been happening over the past few months where he would sing, but then he would save his voice and try not to talk.  We all hoped that would help it get better, but it never got better.  So when he went in, the doctor said, ‘You’ve got to have surgery, or you’re just not gonna be able to continue at all.”

Philip said, “A lot of other singers have been in the same position, and I think Jimi confided in Keith Urban, who had been down that road, and he said it was the best thing he’d done, and now he sings better than ever, and so Jimi was encouraged by Keith and went forward.  I think it’s gonna be the best thing for Jimi.  For the long term of Little Big Town, this is the best thing.”

In fact, Jimi had his surgery done by the same doctor who helped Keith.  Philip & Kimberly have visited him since the surgery, and although Jimi can’t speak at all for a month, they told Lon he’s able to communicate.  Kimberly said, “We both went to se Jimi after he had his surgery, I took him some home-made ice cream, and when I got there, he had his iPad strapped around his neck, and a friend of ours brought him a pen where he can write on his iPad.”

The fourth member of the group, Karen, is also Jimi’s wife, and they have a 5-year-old son, so she’s staying with Jimi and their son today.  Meanwhile, Philip & Kimberly are having their first summer off, and it’s pretty unusual.  Kimberly said, “We’ve never had a summer off.  We’ve been a band for 17 years and never had a summer off.”  Philip said, “I get to be with my daughter when she’s out of school, and we’re playing, getting ice cream, it’s the most fun thing, doing house projects, I feel all domesticated.”  Kimberly added, “Me too.  I had a list as long as my arm, and it’s dwindling, and it’s nice.  My list is getting shorter and shorter.”

 

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Category: Audio