Singer Matthew Sweet suffers ‘debilitating’ stroke while on tour

Musician Matthew Sweet, who’s best known for ’90s songs such as “Sick of Myself” and “Girlfriend,” is recovering after “suffering a debilitating stroke in Toronto late Saturday,” his manager tells EW.

“Last week, Matthew Sweet was forced to cancel an extensive cross-country tour of both headline dates and opening slots for longtime friends, Hanson after suffering a debilitating stroke in Toronto late Saturday evening (October 12),” Russell Carter says in a statement. “Matthew was quickly admitted to Toronto Western Hospital where he was put into excellent care and taken out of immediate danger. Matthew was transferred to a rehabilitation center back home in Omaha today where he will undergo extensive therapy. He is now on a long, difficult road to recovery.”

He praised Sweet’s determination.

“All of us who know and love Matthew have hope for a speedy recovery,” Carter said. “Matthew has always been intensely focused and tenacious in all of his endeavors — not only in his recording career, but in all of his artistic and intellectual pursuits. I am confident that his signature determination will serve him well as he focuses now on recovery to good health.”

Sweet’s team has set up a fundraiser for him, the manager noted.

“Matthew’s medical expenses in Canada and Omaha are exorbitant and his primary source of income — like most professional musicians — is live touring,” he explained. “He cannot perform for the foreseeable future. We have set up a GoFundMe campaign so family, friends, and Matthew’s amazing network of fans can contribute to help pay his medical expenses. Please contribute if you can and please repost the link to the [GoFundMe] fundraiser anywhere you can.”

As of Tuesday night, the fund had raised over $100,000 from 1,800 donors, with names like Judd Apatow, Peter Buck, and Jon Cryer turning up among the contributors.

Listed organizer Catherine Lyons, of Russell Carter Artist Management in Atlanta, complimented the care team, but said it would come with a hefty price.

“The doctors and hospital care in Toronto were instrumental in saving Matthew’s life,” she wrote, “but health care is not free for Americans in Canada. He must now be flown back to the States on an ambulance transport plane with medical staff on board, to a specialized rehabilitation center, where he will receive around-the-clock care and therapy for six weeks. He will then require months of treatment and rehabilitation that we hope will lead to a full recovery.”

The grand total, she estimated, is expected to be “close to a quarter of a million dollars.”

Sweet has recorded more than a dozen studio albums over the year, with his most recent being 2021’s Catspaw.

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