Electric guitar virtuoso and King Crimson founder Robert Fripp has revealed that he suffered a heart attack last month.
The news came via a video with his wife, Toyah Willcox, released on her YouTube channel. While the couple typically use the channel to release videos in which they create lively covers of classic rock tunes, they were more somber with their clip about Fripp’s health scare.
At the video's outset, Fripp avoids talking directly about the health event until Willcox prods him to.
"My darling husband is skirting around the subject matter here," she says. "He had a heart attack two weeks ago."
Fripp was preparing to fly to Italy for a performance in Bergamo last month when he experienced what he believed was acid reflux.
"I'd been suffering what I considered to be acid reflux for a couple weeks before, following my return from 'Cruise to the Edge' with David Singleton,” Fripp says. “And I had this in 2019, and I thought, All right. A little acid reflux. Deal with this.
"But on the Saturday morning I flew, it felt a little bit more."
Prior to his morning flight, Fripp emailed the event’s organizers to request a doctor be on hand when he arrived. Considering that he was experiencing chest pains, the organizers thought it best for him to visit Bergamo Hospital, Italy’s leading cardiac care facility.
Once there, the guitarist was examined and admitted to intensive care, where he was diagnosed with a trifurcated artery. Staff inserted a pair of stents in his heart during two operations.
'When the doctor showed me the diagrams on the computer, she said, 'Your heart, globally, is good. But you have these concerns,’” Fripp explains.
The guitarist — who, despite his serious demeanor, is known for his trenchant sense of humor — shared a funny anecdote from the experience.
“Well, here's the interesting bit: I was in A&E [Accident and Emergency] not quite knowing what was going on, other than I knew they were going to do something. And an orderly came along and shaved my balls!"
“The dear man, I really didn't wish his job on him at that point,” Fripp says.
“Now this is the thing: So you're concerned with my heart, fine. What are you doing shaving my balls?"
The guitarist was reportedly in fine condition after surgery and was able to direct the show in Bergamo less than a week after the operations. The event was a concert by Fripp’s Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists, a group of players who perform live improvisations.
“It was stunning,” Tripp said, recalling the show. “The audience were prepped with orchestral manoeuvres and it really was a magical event for me.”
The guitarist is expected to spend the next six to eight weeks resting.
Fripp’s music has been enjoying a resurgence over the past year. In 2024, his 1980s output with King Crimson got a revival when former Crimson guitarist Adrian Belew and bassist Tony Levin teamed up with Steve Vai and drummer Danny Carey to re-create the group’s music live onstage.
The concerts were challenging, even for virtuosos like Belew and Vai, with the latter recalling how Fripp shared some advice to help him through the song “Frame by Frame.”
