Guitarist Al Di Meola Suffers Heart Attack on Stage

Al Di Meola, the revered guitarist, is recovering after a health scare. According to the Associated Press, Di Meola suffered a heart attack while performing at an unreported venue in Bucharest, Romania, on Wednesday night. The 69-year-old musician was performing with two bandmates when he clasped his chest. AP’s source, identified as photographer Dragos Cristescu, says Di Meola then “struggled to walk off stage.”

The artist’s bandmates played a few more minutes without him before ending the show early. The news wire confirmed that Di Meola suffered the time of heart attack known as a segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI). His is now considered in stable condition and is under the care of Emergency Hospital Bagdasar-Arseni in Bucharest. According to a statement on his official Facebook page, he is expected to make a full recovery. The remainder of his concerts for 2023 are now postponed.

“He’ll be fine, and he’ll be back making music,” his wife Stephanie added in a tearful video to friends and fans on Friday. “It was a very close call. He was actually supposed to fly to the (United) States yesterday, and, God knows, if that had happened on a plane…”

Di Meola, himself, issued a statement on Friday, noting that it was coincidentally “World Heart Day” as he wrote, “I want to specifically thank the Doctors and Nurses at Bagdasar Arseni Hospital in Bucharest/Romania for getting me back on track! I’ll be forever grateful.”

Di Meola is a beloved figure in the jazz fusion world, growing to prominence in the ’70s. Some of his top tracks include “Mediterranean Sundance,” Beyond the Mirage,” “Short Tales of the Black Forest” and “Lady of Rome, Sister of Brazil.” Some of his albums include Elegant Gypsy, Friday Night in San Francisco and Land of the Midnight Sun. He’s also known for his work in the group Return to Forever.

This incident brings to mind several devastating mid-concert health emergencies we’ve covered here at PopCulture.com in recent years. Musicians including Costa Titch, Murali Mohapatra, Eric Cougrand and Sib Hashian all passed away following stage collapses.

No further updates on Di Meola’s condition have been reported. Best wishes to Di Meola as he recovers.