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Jello Biafra, the former lead singer of the Dead Kennedys, was urgently taken to the hospital after experiencing a hemorrhagic stroke.
Alternative Tentacles, Biafra’s record label, disclosed on Instagram on Monday that the stroke was attributed to high blood pressure.
The 67-year-old musician provided further insight into his medical ordeal through his own statement.
“I jumped out of bed because I needed to use the bathroom, but my left leg suddenly gave way, causing me to fall,” Biafra recounted. “My left arm was also unresponsive, leaving me unable to cushion the fall. Despite my attempts to get back up, I couldn’t manage it. That’s when I realized I was in a serious situation, thinking, ‘I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!'”
Biafra added, “At that moment, it hit me: Oh sh-t, I’m having a stroke!”
The singer added, “I still have a lot of great stuff in me, but right now I gotta lotta of [sic] rehabbing to do.”
The record label said Biafra is “currently hospitalized but stable.”
“Speaking for the Alternative Tentacles family, we are all just very thankful he is okay and getting the care that he needs,” the company added. “We will update you all as we are able.”
Biafra was the original lead singer of the Dead Kennedys from the band’s formation in 1978 until they broke up in 1986.
The group released four albums under Biafra’s leadership: “Fresh Fruit for Rotting Vegetables” (1980), “Plastic Surgery Disasters” (1982), “Frankenchrist” (1985) and “Bedtime for Democracy” (1986).
Dead Kennedys reformed in 2001, but without Biafra.
Three years earlier, Biafra was sued by his former bandmates East Bay Ray, Klaus Fluoride and D.H. Peligro (who died in 2022) over alleged unpaid royalties.
Biafra lost the legal battle after a California court found him guilty of “malice, oppression and fraud,” and was ordered to pay his ex-bandmates outstanding royalties and punitive damages, according to NME.
During a 2025 interview with Guitar World, East Bay Ray explained that there are no plans for the band to reunite with Biafra after the lawsuit drama.
“It’s not an issue for me or Klaus,” he said. “It’s Biafra that turns down any offers for us to do something; we don’t have any problem.”
The guitarist continued, “He got caught with his hands in the till and wants to blame us for getting caught, but he should never have put his hands in there in the first place.”