A Grammy-winning country music star divulged her health battle that kept her offstage for much of this spring.
Grand Ole Opry legend Jeannie Seely revealed Wednesday that she is recovering from “multiple” back surgeries and two emergency abdominal surgeries, PEOPLE reported.
The 84-year-old also spent nearly two weeks in the ICU and battled pneumonia on top of it.
“Over the past several weeks, I’ve received so many wonderful messages of love and concern about being missed on the Grand Ole Opry and on ‘Sundays with Seely’ on Willie’s Roadhouse,” Seely said in a statement shared with PEOPLE.
“Thank you for those, and I assure you that I miss you just as much,” she wrote. “Hopefully, I can count on that support as I struggle through this recovery process from multiple back surgeries in March, as well as two emergency abdominal surgeries in April, followed by eleven days in the intensive care unit and a bout with pneumonia.”
While Seely is still on the mend, the country icon is optimistic that she will return to both her SiriusXM radio show, which she’s hosted since 2018, and to the Opry stage, where she’s been a member since 1967.
“Rehab is pretty tough, but each day is looking brighter, and last night, I saw a light at the end of the tunnel. And it was neon, so I knew it was mine!” she told PEOPLE. “The unsinkable Seely is working her way back.”
Seely has been a fixture in country music ever since the 1960s. Often nicknamed “Miss Country Soul,” Seely is best known for her Grammy-winning 1966 hit “Don’t Touch Me.”
Her other most successful songs include “A Wanderin’ Man,” “I’ll Love You More (Than You’ll Need),” “Can I Sleep in Your Arms” and “Lucky Ladies.” Seely also famously collaborated with Jack Greene in the late 1960s, producing the hit single “Wish I Didn’t Have to Miss You.”
Seely was the first woman to host the Grand Ole Opry and she’s appeared on the program more times than any other performer over nearly 60 years.
Seely was hospitalized for dehydration and acute diverticulitis during a trip to Pennsylvania last August, Taste of Country reported. Her husband, Eugene Ward, died of cancer last December. The couple had been married since 2010, according to Taste of Country.
