Status Quo's Rick Parfitt to make 'full recovery' following health woes

Rick Parfitt
Rick Parfitt (Image credit: Getty)

Status Quo’s Rick Parfitt is expected to make a “full recovery” following an “extremely life-threatening situation” after the band’s show in Turkey last month.

The guitarist reportedly had a defibrillator fitted into his chest to monitor his heart following the incident – and he won’t rush his return to the band until he has a clean bill of health, Status Quo manager Simon Porter says.

The son of Quo bass player John ‘Rhino’ Edwards will fill in for Parfitt on the band’s summer tour, with Irish guitarist Richie Malone stepping in for the Leuven, Belgium and Edinburgh dates.

Porter says: “Rick is now making an excellent and steady recovery from an extremely serious life threatening situation following a Quo show in Turkey last month.

“He has now had a defibrillator fitted into his chest in order to regulate any future heart issues and has left hospital in order to recuperate with family and friends.”

He continues: “Although I am now happy to report that his medical team anticipate that Rick will make a full recovery, it will likely be a long and ongoing process.”

In 2014, Status Quo were forced to cancel six shows because of illness affecting the guitarist, who underwent a quadruple heart bypass in 1997.

Meanwhile, Status Quo have shared a video for Rockin All Over The World from their Aquostic! Live At The Roundhouse DVD, which was released last year. It can be viewed below.

Status Quo will tour Europe throughout the summer before their Last Night Of The Electrics UK tour in December.

Status Quo tour dates 2016

Jul 09: Scarborough Open Air Theatre, UK
Jul 13: Rochester Castle, UK
Jul 16: Saint-Julien-en-Genevois, France
Jul 20: Leuven Het Groot Festival, Belgium
Jul 23: Ingliston Royal Highland Centre, UK
Jul 29: Pula Arena, Croatia
Jul 30: Linz Domplatz, Austria
Aug 04: Biberach An Der Riss, Germany
Aug 05: Steenwijkerwold Stichting Dicky Woodstock, Netherlands
Aug 06: Caldicot Castle, UK
Aug 11: Schaffhausen Stars In Town, Switzerland
Aug 12: Erlach Lakeland Festival, Switzerland
Aug 13: Rankweil Open Air Am Marktplatz, Austria
Aug 17: Girona Cap Roig Festival, Spain
Aug 19: Marbella Starlite, Spain
Aug 20: Tarragona Bull Ring, Spain
Aug 21: Alicante Bull Ring, Spain
Aug 26: Taunton Vivary Park, UK
Aug 27: Llaneli Parc Y Scarlets, UK
Aug 28: Overton Laverstoke Park Farm, UK
Sep 11: London Hyde Park, UK
Oct 12: Vienna Gasometers Of Vienna, Austria
Oct 13: Klagenfurt Messe Betriebsgesellschaft, Austria
Oct 15: Zurich Hallenstadion, Switzerland
Oct 17: Tilburg Poppodium, Netherlands
Oct 28: Belfast SSE Arena, UK
Oct 29: Dublin 3Arena, Ireland
Nov 10: Hamburg Arena, Germany
Nov 11: Leipzig Red Bull Arena, Germany
Nov 14: Berlin Max Schmeling Halle, Germany
Nov 15: Erfurt Messe Erfurt, Germany
Dec 08: Nottingham Motorpoint Arena
Dec 09: Bournemouth BIC
Dec 11: London The O2
Dec 13: Brighton Centre
Dec 14: Cardiff Motorpoint Arena
Dec 16: Birmingham Barclaycard Arena
Dec 17: Leeds First Direct Arena
Dec 19: Manchester Arena
Dec 20: Glasgow The SSE Hydro
Dec 22: Newcastle Metro Radio Arena
Dec 23: Liverpool Echo Arena

Live Interview: Status Quo

Former TeamRock news desk member Christina joined our team in late 2015, and although her time working on online rock news was fairly brief, she made a huge impact by contributing close to 1500 stories. Christina also interviewed artists including Deftones frontman Chino Moreno and worked at the Download festival. In late 2016, Christina left rock journalism to pursue a career in current affairs. In 2021, she was named Local Weekly Feature Writer of the Year at the Scottish Press Awards.