Sad news for fans of Streetheart. The band’s lead guitarist,Jeff Neill, posted this today on his Facebook page updating us on the health of lead singer Kenny Sheilds:
“I am very sad to report that due to the seriousness of Kenny Shields health issues, we have had to cancel the entire 2017 tour schedule for Kenny Shields and Streetheart.
I shall be as transparent as I can while maintaining a respectful measure of discretion regarding Kenny’s privacy…
Kenny, as some of you may know and many have speculated on, has a very sick heart. In lay terms, he has approximately 20% efficiency on the left side of his heart which has caused his right side to become damaged in an attempt to compensate. This has created a dangerous buildup of fluid in his lungs along with other serious internal issues. If not for emergency surgery on Monday by a group of highly skilled and compassionate physicians at the St. Boniface Hospital and the Victoria General Hospital, Kenny would likely not be with us today.
We are most thankful for all that they did to achieve the best possible outcome in this situation.
Kenny is currently out of grave danger but will be in recovery for some time.
He will no longer be able to fly or endure the physical demands of being on the road and playing live shows which brings us to this difficult end point.
We have been dealing with this for some time now. We were hoping that we could make one last run this year to say goodbye to all our dear friends and fans who have supported us over the last 40 years.
I am sorry that we will not be able to do that now.
I know that you all wish Kenny the very best and I will continue to keep you informed.
For all of you who have ordered vinyl records or other items, I put my personal reputation on the line and guarantee each and every one of you that you will be receiving your records, albeit a little later than we had originally hoped for.
It is Kenny’s wife who physically sends out the Paypal orders and needless to say, she has been under some duress the past few weeks but now that Kenny is safe and in recovery, we will take care of that business.
I am grateful for your understanding on this.
I will keep you up to date on Kenny’s progress as best as I can but for now I am just so sorry we can’t be there to share this last summer with you.
Live your life. Love your life and enjoy every moment of it with the ones you love.
Time gets precious when there’s less of it to waste. J. xx”
