Primus Drummer is “doing well” after recently suffering a second heart attack.
Primus drummer Tim “Herb” Alexander revealed that he recently suffered a second heart attack; he previously endured a similar health scare in 2014. Alexander made the announcement as well as updated fans on his current health status in a pair of Instagram posts. “I am home and doing well. Just taking it easy,” the drummer said in a follow-up post hours later.
“I had a second heart attack the other day. I did not think this could happen after having a triple bypass almost exactly 2 years ago,” Alexander wrote. “I was overwhelmed with sadness, not because of the fact that I could die but that I would have to say goodbye to my family. It can happen at any moment, and remember it will happen one day so tell the people in your life you love them. Enjoy the days you have with them, they are limited. We are all here for a short time.”
In 2014, Les Claypool’s plan to reunite and tour with the “classic” Primus lineup with Alexander and guitarist Larry Lalonde was put on pause when Alexander suffered his first heart attack, a “minor” attack that later revealed that the drummer required triple bypass surgery.
“When Tim ‘Herb the Ginseng Drummer’ Alexander had a minor heart attack a few weeks back, we were all startled. When he went in for an angioplasty the next morning and they said he needed a triple bypass, we were all shocked,” Claypool told the press in 2014. “Tim is the ‘Ginseng drummer’ for a reason: He was always the non-meat eating, teetotaling, mastodon of a man who could throw a football over a mountain, chuck a curve ball at 89 miles per hour and could play his drums for hours on end without breaking a sweat, but unfortunately genetics and a taste for dessert have a way of catching up and kicking one’s balls.”
In order to meet their touring obligations, Primus recruited Tool drummer Danny Carey to fill in for a few dates; Alexander had also previously played alongside Maynard James Keenan in A Perfect Circle and Puscifer. Three months after open heart surgery, Alexander rejoined Primus on the road.