Lucinda Williams suffered a stroke in November 2020, Rolling Stone reports. Williams experienced a blood clot on the right side of her brain on November 17 that affected the left side of her body, and was rushed to Nashville’s Vanderbilt Medical Center. After a month of therapy at a Vanderbilt rehab center, she was discharged on December 21. Now six months into her recovery, Williams walks with a cane, is unable to play guitar, and continues to experience pain on her left side. Her husband Tom Overby said there were no signs of brain damage and that she is expected to make a full recovery.
Williams, who turned 68 in January, was originally scheduled to perform at the Mile 0 Festival in Key West, Florida, this past weekend, but canceled the appearance last month. Williams plans to return to performing this summer; her tour opening for Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit is scheduled to start July 19 in Vancouver, British Columbia. Her cover of Sharon Van Etten’s “Save Yourself” appeared on Van Etten’s covers LP epic Ten in March. Her last LP Good Souls Better Angels was released in April 2020.
Read Pitchfork’s 5-10-15-20 feature “Lucinda Williams on the Music That Made Her.”