Dr. Dre had 3 strokes when hospitalized for brain aneurysm in 2021
Dr. Dre's hospitalization for a brain aneurysm in 2021 was a harrowing experience that included three strokes over a two-week period, the legendary producer recently said.
“It's just something that you can't control that just happens, and during those two weeks, I had three strokes,” he said on the March 14 episode of SiriusXM's podcast “This Life of Mine ... With James Corden.”
The “Next Episode” and “Nuthin' But a `G' Thang” rapper also noted that he initially dismissed his first symptom: pain behind his ear.
“I just woke up, and I felt something right behind my right ear, and I almost felt like the worst pain I ever felt, and I got up and I went on about my day and I thought that I could just lay down and take a nap,” the hip-hop icon recalled.
“My son had a female friend that was there and was like, `No, we need to take you to the hospital,' so they took me to urgent care and I got to urgent care and they were like, `No, this is serious.' Next thing you know, I'm blacking out. “
The Compton-born philanthropist and media mogul, whose real name is Andre Young, said he was in and out of consciousness and ended up in an ICU for two weeks; there, he heard doctors telling him, “You don't know how lucky you are.” He added that he didn't realize that he had hypertension because he'd always taken care of his health. (He previously told the Los Angeles Times that he “never saw that coming.”)
“I asked questions like, `What could I have done to prevent this?' and nobody could give me an answer. I had no idea that I had high blood pressure or anything like that because I'm on my health s--,” he told Corden.
The multiple Grammy Award winner has rebounded since the health crisis, performing with fellow hip-hop legends just over a year later during his hometown Super Bowl LVI Halftime Show and receiving the inaugural Dr. Dre Global Impact Award at the 2023 Grammy Awards.