Country singer's heart attack won't stop show

From staff and wire reports

Country musician John Anderson will perform at the SEMO District Fair Sept. 13 despite suffering a heart attack over the Labor Day weekend.

Pete Poe, the fair's publicity coordinator, said Tuesday that Anderson's organization told him the star has been released from the hospital. "Everything is fine and he will begin his new tour starting September 9," Poe said.

Poe said Anderson had an angioplasty nine months ago. According to reports, Anderson had another angioplasty Saturday. In an angioplasty, a tube and balloon device are inflated to widen a blocked coronary artery.

Anderson. 48, suffered the heart attack at a Charleston hotel Saturday afternoon, shortly before he was to perform at the Charleston Sternwheel Regatta in Charleston, W.Va.

"The production group told me he tried to leave the hospital twice because he'd never missed a show before," said the festival's director, M. Sharon King.

Anderson had been having chest pains, said publicist Della Croce.

"He's in good spirits."

Anderson's 1983 hit "Swingin'" -- the largest-selling country single in Warner Bros. history -- was named best single of the year by the Country Music Association. His album "Seminole Wind" went double platinum in 1992.

In 1993, Anderson, who lives in Smithville, Tenn., won an Academy of Country Music career achievement award.

Southeast Missourian writer Sam Blackwell contributed to this report.