Status Quo’s Rick Parfitt suffers suspected heart attack

By Scott Munro
( Classic Rock )
published

Status Quo guitarist Rick Parfitt being treated in Turkish hospital after suffering suspected heart attack

Rick Parfitt
Rick Parfitt (Image credit: Getty)

Status Quo guitarist Rick Parfitt is being treated in a Turkish hospital after suffering a suspected heart attack.

He fell ill following the band’s performance in the country after performing at the Antalya Expo last night (June 15). His condition is described as serious, although a press release states that Parfitt has “already demanded his customary cup of tea with two sugars and a sweetener.”

Quo manager Simon Porter adds: “No further comment will be made at this stage until the completion of the next round of tests and assessments to be made over the next few days. We would ask you to respect the family’s privacy at this difficult time.”

In 2014, Status Quo were forced to cancel six shows because of illness affecting the guitarist, who underwent a quadruple heart bypass in 1997.

The band have decided to go ahead with the Rock On Windermere charity show on June 18, and Freddie Edwards, son of Quo bassist John ‘Rhino’ Edwards, will step in for Parfitt.

He’s expected to stay in the lineup for their show in Stockholm, Sweden, on July 3.

Scott Munro
Scott Munro
Louder e-commerce editor

Scott has spent more than 30 years in newspapers and magazines as an editor, production editor, sub-editor, designer, writer and reviewer. After initially joining our news desk in the summer of 2014, he moved to the e-commerce team full-time in 2020. He maintains Louder’s buyer’s guides, scouts out the best deals for music fans and reviews headphones, speakers, books and more. He's written more than 11,000 articles across Louder, Classic Rock, Metal Hammer and Prog and has previous written for publications including IGN, the Sunday Mirror, Daily Record and The Herald covering everything from daily news and weekly features, to video games, travel and whisky. Scott grew up listening to rock and prog, cutting his teeth on bands such as Marillion and Magnum before his focus shifted to alternative and post-punk in the late 80s. His favourite bands are Fields Of The Nephilim, The Cure, New Model Army, All About Eve, The Mission, Ned's Atomic Dustbin and Drab Majesty, but he also still has a deep love of Rush.