BLABBERMOUTH.NET
Legendary guitarist and composer
Jason Becker, who has been living with ALS for over 30 years, is at a hospital in Northern California undergoing treatment for a bacterial infection.
Becker was admitted to the hospital on Wednesday (April 7) after experiencing "shortness of breath and a rapid heart rate," according to his mother.
Earlier today (Friday, April 9),
Jason's sister-in-law
Amy issued the following update on his condition: "I just spoke with [
Jason's mom]
Pat. She has spent the last 2 nights in the hospital with
Jason.
Serrana is with him now.
"
Jason is still in the hospital receiving iv fluids and antibiotics.
"He really likes his doctor. The doctor is very optimistic that antibiotics will improve his bacterial infection.
"
Jason is hoping to come home in a day or two."
Pat Becker first revealed that
Jason had been experiencing shortness of breath and a rapid heart rate on Monday. At the time, she said that she and the rest of
Jason's immediate family were "in constant contact with his doctors."
Throughout March and April, some of the world's greatest guitarists are coming together to raise money and celebrate
Jason's music.
For more information on the virtual event, hosted in part by
DRAGONFORCE guitarist
Herman Li, visit
Jasonbecker.com or
twitch.tv/hermanli.
Becker's story is one of brilliance, talent, determination, adversity, and, ultimately, triumph. A child prodigy on guitar,
Jason rose to prominence as a teenager when he was one half of the technical guitar duo
CACOPHONY, with his great friend
Marty Friedman. In 1989, at only 19 years old and after wowing audiences all over the world, the young virtuoso became the guitarist for
David Lee Roth, following in the huge footsteps of
Eddie Van Halen and
Steve Vai. He wrote and recorded on
Roth's third solo album,
"A Little Ain't Enough", and was poised for superstardom when a nagging pain in his leg was diagnosed as Motor Neurone Disease (MND), also known as Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's Disease, the same condition
Stephen Hawking lived with for over five decades. It is a fatal condition with a life expectancy of maybe five years. Maybe.
That was more than 30 years ago. He lost the ability to play guitar, walk, talk, and breathe on his own. But never lost his will to live or his desire to create music. Communicating through a series of eye movements with a system developed by his father,
Jason spells out words as well as musical notes and chords. He imparts his musical vision to his team who then can input the notes into a computer, edit the parts to his exacting standards, and then generate charts for session musicians. His inspiring music and life story have been the subject of countless news articles and magazine cover stories.
Becker's latest album,
"Triumphant Hearts", was released in December 2018 via
Music Theories Recordings/
Mascot Label Group. The disc features guest appearances by a who's who of six-string gods, including
Joe Satriani,
Steve Vai,
Neal Schon,
Steve Morse,
Paul Gilbert and
Joe Bonamassa.
