Earth, Wind & Fire Drummer John Paris Enters Rehab After Hospitalization
Verdine White, Robert Burns, B. David Whitworth and Philip J. Bailey of Earth, Wind & Fire perform on September 21, 2025. Stewart Cook/CBS
Earth, Wind & Fire drummer John Paris, 58, has been moved to a rehabilitation center after completing a two-month hospital stay. An update to a GoFundMe for the R&B band’s longtime timekeeper on Thursday (Oct. 8), revealed that, “After more than two months in the hospital, we have wonderful news: John has left the hospital and begun the next phase of his recovery in rehabilitation.”
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The note added, “This is a milestone we have prayed for — but it is not the end of John’s journey. In many ways, a new one is just beginning.”
Paris suffered an unspecified critical medical emergency on Aug. 6, just before EW&F were scheduled to play a gig with co-headliner Lionel Richie in San Francisco. After two major surgeries, Paris was placed in a medically induced coma, which he woke from on Aug. 20. Paris was then hospitalized for two months in San Francisco.
In the GoFundMe update, the page’s organizers noted that Paris was battling an unspecified “spinal cord injury” and that the musician did not have medical insurance when he suffered his medical emergency; though few details have emerged about the specifics of his health issue, the San Francisco Fire Department earlier confirmed that crews responded to a report of a “cardiac incident” at the venue and transported one person to a hospital in critical condition.
“John’s prolonged hospitalization, spinal cord injury, rehabilitation and continuing medical needs have created a financial situation far beyond what we anticipated when Standing With John began,” the fundraiser update reported. “[Wife] Kathy [Merrick] and John are pursuing every available source of assistance, including Medicare and workers’ compensation, but what ultimately will be covered remains unresolved.”
They added, “Reaching rehabilitation is a victory. But John still has a long road ahead as he works toward regaining as much independence as possible and, ultimately, returning home. That’s why we’re beginning Phase Two of Standing With John. If you’ve already donated, you helped Kathy remain beside John during one of the hardest periods of their lives. You helped when they needed you.”
At press time, the fundraiser had brought in more than $101,000 of its $110,000 goal.
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