’70s Rock Legend Reveals Near-Death Experience He Kept Private for Years

For decades, Phil Ehart has been the stabilizing force in the band Kansas.

A co-founder and the band’s manager, he’s as engrained in the progressive rock outfit as “Dust in the Wind” is in our collective memory. But it’s taken more than 50 years to really learn about the man behind the drum kit. 

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Released this year, I Am Phil explores Ehart’s life in full, from his family and faith, to his 50 years touring the world with one of the greatest rock bands of all time. And like every brilliant memoir, it’s full of revelations, with visceral stories of The Doors, Janis Joplin, and Jerry Garcia filling the pages. The most shocking, however, might be Ehart’s brush with death in February 2024. 

In an interview with Ultimate Classic Rock, the drummer shared that writing about his health scare was particularly difficult for his wife, Laurie. 

“I almost died right in front of her,” he shared. “It wasn’t anything we expected. It wasn’t like I was showing any symptoms. I’d always been in such good shape, I’d played my drums earlier that day, had exercised by walking the golf course, and the band had been playing 50th Anniversary Tour shows two days before.”

He added that he hadn’t experienced any chest pains, but “when I felt like I’d been shot in the back and my back muscles and shoulder hurt, luckily, Laurie called the ambulance immediately. … I was fortunate to survive.”

Beyond the health revelation, Ehart shared that the early incarnation of Kansas was part of The Doors’ final concert, Janis Joplin told him to never give up, and an encounter with Jerry Garcia was recounted in The Grateful Dead’s “Truckin’.”

When asked what prompted him to share his story now, Ehart said the driving force was a desire to leave a record of his life for his children, which ultimately pushed him to begin writing.

“Being on the road, playing in the band, and managing the band, I never had the time to sit down and look back on my life,” he said. “In doing this, I realized it can be difficult to reflect on one’s life, especially when you are starting from the beginning.”

Per the outlet, Ehart’s memoir is “the kind of insider’s account that will be illuminating for fans, and for any wayward sons (and daughters) who have carried on with Kansas for its 50-plus years.”

I Am Phil is available at philehart.net.

Related: ’70s Folk Rock Legend Stuns With Moving Performance of 1966 Timeless Ode to Home