Denny Laine, a guitarist and founding member of Wings and the Moody Blues, has been facing severe health challenges lately. The 78-year-old musician has been hospitalized multiple times in Naples, Florida, since July, suffering from a collapsed lung, a bacterial infection, and other complications after contracting COVID-19 last year. His wife, Elizabeth Hines, has launched a GoFundMe fundraiser to help with the medical expenses and to support his recovery.
How Did COVID-19 Affect Denny Laine?
Laine contracted COVID-19 in March 2022 and recovered within five days, according to his wife. However, he soon developed more problems, including an ongoing bacterial infection in his blood and a recently collapsed lung, which required surgery to insert a chest tube.
Laine has been admitted to NCH Baker Hospital several times since July and was discharged from there on Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023. He is currently recovering in a Naples rehabilitation center for about a month.
Hines said that Laine is too weak to play the guitar, but that is his goal and his therapy. “He doesn’t like to be caged up,” she said. “So there’s nothing worse for him than having to sit still in a hospital bed.”
Take a look at the below tweet about Denny Laine’s health:
Go Fund Me for Denny Laine of the Moody Blues and Paul McCartney and Wings.
He’s been in and out of the hospital concerning an illness in his lungs that developed after his short bout with COVID last year. https://t.co/a4UCFOG6ic— Honey_Ryderseashells (@ryderseashells) September 22, 2023
How Can Denny Laine’s Fans and Friends Help?
Laine was set to play and discuss his lengthy musical career in two summer concerts in Fort Myers, Florida, but his health difficulties have caused him to postpone them. In addition to working alongside former Beatle Paul McCartney in the immensely successful band Wings throughout the 1970s, Laine was the founding lead singer and guitarist for the legendary classic rock group The Moody Blues.
Laine lacks health insurance, just like a lot of other musicians, according to Hines. To generate money for his medical expenses and rehabilitation time, they launched a GoFundMe account on Friday, September 22, 2023. As of now, the fundraiser has raised roughly $20,000 of its $100,000 target.
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“I’m asking for financial help to get Denny the medical care and recovery time he requires,” Hines wrote on the GoFundMe page. “It’s important he concentrates on healing during this time. Our goal is to have Gypsy Den home in time for his birthday (Oct. 29).”
The North Naples resident was scheduled to play at Fort Myers’ Alliance for the Arts in July and give a discussion about his lengthy career in music. Because of his illness, he had to postpone the concert until September and then had to cancel that show as well.
Laine was The Moody Blues’ original lead singer and guitarist, a legendary combination in classic rock. In the wildly successful band Wings, he also collaborated closely with Paul McCartney, the former Beatle, throughout the 1970s. Together, their successes, including “Band on the Run,” “Live and Let Die,” and “Silly Love Songs,” filled arenas.
Hines claims that canceling the Fort Myers events wasn’t an easy task for him. She claims, “He never postpones or cancels.” “The show must go on. … When he was in Wings, he went on with a 102-degree fever.”
