Former RAINBOW And DEEP PURPLE Singer JOE LYNN TURNER Hospitalized With 'Heart Issue'

Former RAINBOW and DEEP PURLE singer Joe Lynn Turner has been hospitalized in Belarus "with a heart issue," his friend Graham Bonnet has confirmed.

Turner's hospitalization was first reported by the Russian state news agency RIA Novosti, which quoted the press service of the Ministry of Health of Belarus as saying that the singer's condition was "stable" after he was treated at a Minsk facility for "myocardial infarction," commonly known as a heart attack. Turner's presence at the hospital was also reported by Belarus's most influential daily newspaper, the state-owned SB Belarus Segodnya.

According to the Russian news agency TASS, a spokeswoman for the Ministry of Health of Belarus said that Turner was transported by ambulance to the hospital and that he will continue to receive treatment at the facility.

Earlier today, fellow former RAINBOW vocalist Bonnet confirmed the reports, posting a Facebook photo of him with Joe and writing in an accompanying caption: "My friend Joe was hospitalized in Minsk with a heart issue last night and myself, [GRAHAM BONNET BAND bassist] Beth-Ami [Heavenstone] and the rest of the GRAHAM BONNET BAND wish him a complete and speedy recovery. We love you, Joe."

BLABBERMOUTH.NET has reached out to Turner's representative for more information on the singer's condition and will update this story accordingly.

Joe was the frontman of RAINBOW between 1980 and 1984 and he sang on the album "Difficult To Cure", which featured the band's most successful U.K. single, "I Surrender".

During Turner's time with RAINBOW, the band had its first USA chart success and recorded songs that helped define the melodic rock genre.

1990 saw Turner reunited with RAINBOW leader Ritchie Blackmore in a reformed DEEP PURPLE for the "Slaves And Masters" album.

The 66-year-old singer is married to Maya Kozyreva, a lawyer from Minsk.