Blanco Brown Is Still Recovering After 2020 Motorcycle Crash, But He’s Making Music Again
Blanco Brown can't say much about about his Aug. 31 motorcycle accident, except that it "was not my fault." He can, however, talk about what happened after he "shattered" his arms, wrists, legs and pelvis upon hitting a 1998 Ford Ranger head-on late that night in western Atlanta.
"It was a scary moment, but I'm just glad that God had his arms around me," the songwriter, rapper and producer who scored a country hit with "The Git Up" in 2019 tells Billboard in a new interview. Brown spent 12 hours in surgery after being rushed to the hospital from the accident scene, and he remembers hearing doctors comment on how close he was to death.
"There's nothing more real than laying there and you hear the doctor say, 'If we don't get him blood, he's not going to make it,' and there's nothing you can do about it," Brown recounts. "That was a moment. I could only lay there. I was like, 'Please don't let me leave.'"
Brown was in the hospital for close to a month, about half of which he spent in the ICU after the accident. "I couldn't move at all. I couldn't turn in the bed. I had external pipes sticking out of my body holding my pelvis together. I had to learn how to do simple things. I couldn't feed myself," he shares.
Still, "I was broken, but it didn't break my spirit," Brown notes. After being released from the hospital, he lived with his father for a while, though he's now back on his own. He's still in physical therapy 3-5 days per week and says he "can move a bit, but I move like a turtle;" he's using both a scooter and a walker to get around.
"I have my down days, but I avoid being depressed," Brown admits. He's received plenty of love and support from fans and fellow artists alike, too; Tim McGraw, for example, sent his well wishes via a signed black cowboy hat and a personal note.
"What's so crazy is, that day, I was really down, just thinking like, 'Will I heal in time? Am I going to heal at this rate?'" Brown recalls. "To tell you the truth, I got the hat and it made me feel great about everything. It made me want to get up, but I couldn't!"
Brown still has both the helmet and the jacket he was wearing when he got into the accident. They remind him, he says, of what could have been.
"You get hit and don’t know what the outcome will be, and then you make it to live another day. At that point, it's time for you to prove to yourself that you’re strong enough and I got that willpower in my mind and in my heart," Brown explains. "I see those rips [in the jacket] and everything could have been something else."
Brown does eventually plan to get back on a motorcycle — just, "more than likely," not on the road; rather, he'll stick to tracks and his own property. "I'm never going to give someone the opportunity to hit me," he says.
Music-wise, Brown was sidelined by the pain of his injuries, but he's now looking forward to a new single arriving in June and a "joyous" album this fall. It's been a different studio experience, he says: "Still the smile and the laughs, but I can't move and dance around and vibe to my own stuff."
"I definitely feel like having another chance at life is God’s purpose for me and his will, so I can't do nothing but keep on making great music that has a meaning," Brown reflects. "The accident, it solidified that you’re here for this purpose: 'Keep it going. Don't stop what you’re doing. Don’t let this put a damper on what you do and how you shine and the joy you have. Just continue to be a blessing.'"
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