Sturgill Simpson is the latest artist from the country/roots realm to test positive for COVID-19. The songwriter, performer, and producer said in a statement on Saturday (4/11) that he had been suffering from chest pains, fever, and pre-stroke blood pressure levels on March 13th when his wife took him to a local hospital ER. Fearing he contracted the Coronavirus in Europe while touring there in late January and early February, he asked to be tested.



“I spent an hour listening to a (highly condescending) Doctor refuse to test me because I ‘did not fit testing criteria’ and tell me why it was impossible that I had contracted the virus due to its extreme rarity and that it was not in western Europe yet during that same period (which we now know is incorrect) even though I was told by two nurses that I was the first person their hospital had walk in requesting to be tested.”



Simpson was able to be tested roughly a month later when both himself and his wife went to a drive-thru testing site in Alabama at a National Guard depot. “Yesterday on Friday April 10th, after almost one month without any symptoms, I received a call from the Nashville CDC stating that my test resulted in a positive detection for Covid-19. My wife (who has been by my side since Europe) tested negative.”



Simpson is now in quarantine at his home, but otherwise appears to not be suffering from any major complications from the virus. “All I know is I first felt symptoms a month ago yet Im still positive and contagious … really wishing Id taken my wife’s advice and put a bathroom in the floor plans..live and learn. But hey, at least our Government appointed task force headed by a man who does not believe in science is against mass testing and we now have a second task force in the works to ‘open America back up for business’! Dick Daddy out.”



Sturgill was on an arena tour with Tyler Childers when the Coronavirus cancellations began to take place en masse. He played his final show in Charleston, South Carolina on March 10th, with the rest of the March dates rescheduled to April or later. The tour was set to restart again on April 20th at the Baxter Arena in Omaha, Nebraska—a date originally scheduled on April 9th. However the April dates have been postponed once again with many of the tour dates still up in the air.



The Coronavirus has hit the country and roots world especially hard, with Joe Diffie dying from COVID-19 complications, and John Prine passing away on April 7th after likely contracting the virus in Europe. Sturgill and John Prine were close friends who shared an office together in Nashville. Kalie Shorr, Laura Bell Bundy, and Ray Benson of Asleep of the Wheel also contracted the Coronavirus.



Ray Benson shared on April 7th, “I think I’ve licked this thing after three weeks of mostly tired, dizzy, a bit nauseous. Good news is I lost a bunch of weight. I want to thank everybody for the incredible outpouring of love. It was overwhelming and truly helpful to get me through this. I want to send out all my love and hope to all the folks suffering from this disease. I had what they called a mild case.“

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