KIX Drummer JIMMY CHALFANT Opens Up About His Latest Cardiac Arrest, Says His Bandmate And Roadie Saved His Life

KIX drummer Jimmy "Chocolate" Chalfant rejoined his bandmates on stage for two songs — "Cold Blood" and "Blow My Fuse" — during the band's set on Sunday (April 30) aboard this year's Monsters Of Rock cruise. It marked his first live appearance with KIX since he collapsed onstage six months ago.

On November 18, 2022, Chalfant suffered a cardiac arrest during KIX's concert at the Tally Ho Theater in Leesburg, Virginia. Chalfant was unconscious and carried offstage before performing the last song of the show.

For its recent live appearances, including the Monsters Of Rock cruise, KIX has been using drummer Matt Starr, who has previously played with Ace Frehley, MR. BIG and BLACK SWAN, among others.

Back in September 2021, Chalfant suffered a heart attack at his home and was rushed to the hospital. He had immediate surgery to insert two stents in his heart then another surgery the next day for another stent.

During appearance on yesterday's (Wednesday, May 3) episode of SiriusXM's "Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk", Chalfant opened up about his heart disease, saying (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "Well, the first [time I was rushed to the hospital] was [due to] a heart attack. The second one was actually a cardiac arrest, where my heart stopped — while we were performing."

Explaining the difference between a heart attack and a cardiac arrest, Jimmy said: "A heart attack, it doesn't actually stop. Basically, a heart attack comes from blocked arteries, which I had three blocked arteries at that time. And fortunately they were able to get me into the cath lab and insert stents in those arteries; they didn't have to do a bypass. So I was really thankful for that. I got four stents that time. And then this [second] time, I guess it was because we were performing and I just finished my solo that my heart was racing a good bit at that time. I just finished my drum solo, stood up, did my thing, and apparently I sat back down, and somebody told me I sat back down and just froze. When they first saw that, they thought I was fooling with my kick pedal or something. And then when I didn't come back in for the end of that song, they figured something was wrong. And thank God for [KIX bassist] Mark [Schenker] and our guitar tech Brandon were right there. They got me off the drum riser and got me down and worked CPR right away. And they saved my life that night."

Elaborating on what caused his cardiac arrest a little over a year after his initial heart attack, Jimmy said: "One of my stents got blocked at one end of it. What they told me [was that] one of my stents that I had had a blockage in one end of it. So I guess that led to the heart stopping. And so they cleared that out and put another stent in."

Reflecting on his September 2021 heart attack, Chalfant said: "I was at home during that. And I just started not feeling real well. Well, I had my chest pains, and it was sort of in the middle of my chest and it radiated out from there. And I went upstairs to lay down, see if I feel any better. And pretty soon I knew it wasn't gonna change. So I told my wife, 'I think we'd better go to the hospital.' She asked me, 'Do you want me to call an ambulance?' And I said 'yes'. And I'm glad I did because on the way there they had two IVs going on me already, did an echo [echocardiogram] on me, so the hospital knew what was coming in before we got there. And they had me in a cath lab in about an hour after I got there."

According to Jimmy, he was told after the first heart attack that there were no physical issues preventing him from performing with KIX again. "Every doctor appointment that I had, my wife Cathy would ask them, 'Is it okay for him to perform?', wanting somebody to say, 'No, he probably shouldn't.' But none of them said that," he explained. "Everyone said, 'Oh, no. We have no physical restrictions on what you do or anything like that.' We tried to explain to 'em what we do and how intense it is, and what my heart rate can get up to while I'm doing that, and they said, 'No. You should be fine.'"

KIX was founded in 1977 and released its first, self-titled album on Atlantic Records more than 40 years ago. Their breakthrough came with 1988's "Blow My Fuse", which sold nearly a million copies, thanks to "Don't Close Your Eyes". The band continued to ride the hard-rock wave until 1995, when KIX took a hiatus. Nearly 10 years later, KIX reunited and started touring regionally. A 2008 performance at the Rocklahoma festival led to more gigs and the release of a live DVD/CD called "Live In Baltimore" in 2012. In 2014, KIX released its seventh full-length album, "Rock Your Face Off", the band's first studio effort since 1995's "Show Business".