HEALTH UPDATE By Sara Donnellan
July 10, 2023
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UPDATE 7/10, 2 p.m. ET: After his two-week ICU stay, Michael Grimm was moved to an out-of-state physical therapy, mental-health and rehab facility but still does not have an official diagnosis.
”I’m doing much better. This has been an eye-opening experience for me in a big way, brother,” Grimm told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on July 7. “That is putting it the best way I can. I’m still repairing, but I have my loved ones here with me.”
He is walking without a cane, wife Lucie Zolcerva-Grimm shared in a July 7 update via Facebook, adding that his voice is back as well. “They are starting on vocal exercises. He doesn’t have a singing voice yet but he is not stressed over it. He feels that with proper vocal exercises and retraining he will get back on track,” she said.
His family hosted a fundraiser earlier this month to help pay for more than $250,000 in medical bills.
Original story:
Michael Grimm, the season 5 winner of America’s Got Talent, has been hospitalized and remains in an intensive care unit as he battles an unknown illness.
The 44-year-old singer’s wife, Lucie Zolcerva-Grimm, shared an update via Grimm’s Instagram page on Tuesday, June 6. In the video, Zolcerva-Grimm noted that her husband had recently been “struggling with his health” and that his symptoms — which included “lacking energy” — worsened on Memorial Day.
“He was looking increasingly sick. All of a sudden, he could barely walk,” she shared. Zolcerva-Grimm explained that she then took the blues musician to the emergency room, fearing that he was having a stroke, which “wasn’t the case.”
The Lucie’s Apothecary businesswoman noted that Grimm’s condition worsened once he got to the hospital where he “started talking gibberish” as “physical tremors” began to set in. He was then transferred to the ICU.
“Michael has been in [the] ICU all week. For the safety of his health, they had to put him on a ventilator and sedate him pretty heavily,” Zolcerva-Grimm said. “The good news is that the doctors were finally able to remove the ventilator today and he is breathing on his own. … They do still have him sedated so he doesn’t seize or flatline from the fluctuating blood pressure.”
The booking manager emphasized that the cause of her husband’s illness remains unknown and that doctors are isolating different organs to rule things out. She added that when Grimm is feeling better, he will have to undergo physical therapy due to spending a week in bed.
“He currently has no voice, he’s gotta go under vocal cord repair from time being on the ventilator,” Zolcerva-Grimm said. She acknowledged that Grimm might not “like” her sharing an update on his health via social media as he is “a very private person.” However, she decided to keep fans in the loop as she’s had to cancel several of the AGT alum’s upcoming performances.
During his time on the reality completion show, the “You Don’t Know Me” singer beat out then-10-year-old vocalist Jackie Evancho in the 2010 season finale. He dedicated his winning performance of “When a Man Loves a Woman” to Zolcerva-Grimm at the time.
“I really thought Jackie had it in the bag,” he said during the finale after being crowned the season 5 champion. “This is definitely an out-of-body experience. This whole journey has been, but especially now.”
The Colorado native went on to compete in season 2 of America’s Got Talent: The Champions in 2020 but was eliminated prior to the semi-finals.
Zolcerva-Grimm, for her part, concluded her Instagram update by asking Grimm’s fans to be patient amid his health crisis and thanked everyone for their support. “Mostly I just need everyone to keep Michael in their prayers, in their minds and their hearts,” she said.