In the early hours of Wednesday, June 15, following the STATUS QUO gig at Expo 2016 in Antalya, Turkey, guitarist Rick Parfitt suffered a suspected heart attack. The 67-year-old rocker is being treated in a hospital in Turkey, and while his condition is serious, he has already demanded his customary cup of tea with two sugars and a sweetener. STATUS QUO had already agreed to perform at the Rock On Windermere charity show on Saturday, June 18 to raise funds for the Cumbria Flood Appeal. Rick and the band did not want to cancel this important show, and so it will go ahead with Freddie Edwards, the son of QUO bassist John "Rhino" Edwards, stepping in for Rick. It is likely that Freddie will stay with the band to allow them to honor their commitments and not let down the fans up to and including the show on Sunday, July 3 at Gröna Lund in Stockholm, Sweden. Simon Porter, STATUS QUO's manager, said: "No further comment will be made at this stage until the completion of the next round of tests and assessments to be made over the next few days. We would ask you to respect the family's privacy at this difficult time." Parfitt has experienced a number of health setbacks over the years, including a quadruple heart bypass in 1997, a throat cancer scare in 2005 and a heart attack in 2011. STATUS QUO was forced to cancel a number of shows in 2014 after Parfitt was told by doctors to rest following surgery to correct a problem with his previous heart bypass. Parfitt and STATUS QUO frontman Francis Rossi recently announced they were hanging up their electric guitars for good following one final tour.
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