Welsh rocker Dave Edmunds is in critical condition after going into cardiac arrest last week.
Edmunds’ wife, Cici, detailed the incident in a July 29 Facebook post, which you can see below. “He died in my arms while I desperately tried to keep him alive while trying to clear his airways from all of the fluids that come out of a human being’s body when we pass away,” she wrote.
A nurse was able to revive Edmunds with CPR, but “he very clearly has brain damage and severe memory loss,” Cici wrote. “And the risk of yet another major cardiac arrest is high. And if that occurs, there is no chance for Dave.”
“Dave will have a very long journey ahead of him if he survives. We both have,” Cici concluded her post. “But knowing that there are kindhearted people such as you all makes this tremendously difficult journey a little easier. Bless you all. Sending you all much love and light always.”
Dave Edmunds’ Life and Career
Born on April 15, 1944 in Cardiff, Wales, Edmunds played in a number of bands throughout the ’60s, including Love Sculpture, who scored a UK Top 5 hit with their high-speed cover of composer Aram Khachaturian’s “Sabre Dance” from the ballet Gayane.
READ MORE: Top 10 Dave Edmunds Songs
After Love Sculpture disbanded, Edmunds embarked on a solo career, which got off to an auspicious start with his cover of Smiley Lewis’ “I Hear You Knocking.” The song topped the UK charts in 1970 and reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100.
A handful of UK hits followed throughout the decade. Edmunds also formed the pub rock/proto-new wave band Rockpile with English rocker Nick Lowe, releasing one album, Seconds of Pleasure, in 1980.
READ MORE: Why Two Rockpile Albums Were Disguised as Solo Records
Edmunds released a handful of solo albums throughout the ’80s, though he slowed his pace of work by the end of the decade. He toured with Ringo Starr‘s All-Starr Band in 1992 and 2000 and released his most recent studio album, On Guitar… Rags & Classics, featuring instrumental covers of classic songs, in 2015. He effectively retired after a handful of shows in 2017.
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Gallery Credit: UCR Staff
