Country singer Drake White describes ‘gunshot’ moment his brain ruptured mid-concert: ‘I knew I was dying’
Drake White is lucky to be alive after suffering from a hemorrhagic stroke that nearly killed him in 2019.
In an exclusive interview with Fox News Digital, the 42-year-old country star — currently on tour with Riley Green — opened up about the life-changing moment, reflected on how speaking with God during his near-death experience shaped his recovery, and emphasized the importance of leaning on faith during challenging times.
Before hitting the road with Zach Brown in 2019, White — who was 35 years old at the time — was diagnosed with a rare brain condition called arteriovenous malformation (AVM). Having already undergone four surgeries, White said the percentage of a rupture was less than 1%. So he took the chance.
But his worst nightmare happened while doing something he loved the most: performing.
"We just took the stage in Roanoke, Virginia. It was probably 98 degrees and cotton candy skies, beautiful, 2,500 people out there. And I tore into three or four songs and I just felt a tick," White said. "And I felt my left arm, my fingers tingling, kind of numbness. And then I heard a, I call it a gunshot. It literally sounded like an audible gunshot behind my left ear. And when it snapped, if you look at the video back you can see me trying to push through it."
"I grew up in Alabama where you just kind of keep pushing, keep going, and I tried to do that, and I couldn't speak," he continued. "I couldn't think, and the cotton candy sky became the grass, and the grass became the sky. Everything flipped upside down ... Everything slowed way down, and it just felt like I was walking in quicksand, and everything was heavy. My left arm was heavy, my left foot was heavy, and I knew right then, I was like, 'Well, dang, I'm having a stroke.'"
White said he recalled his doctors warning him of a possible rupture due to his condition.
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"They told me, if it ruptures, that you would have a very good chance of, you know, death," he said. "Death was kind of it. And so I just remember, keep breathing and keep praying and just keep, keep, breathing and get me to the hospital."
WATCH: Drake White details ‘gunshot’ moment his brain ruptured mid-concert: ‘I knew I was dying’
White was immediately rushed to a local hospital and was administered a coagulant that stopped the brain bleed.
"That ultimately saved my life, but in that process, [I] saw angels, saw the whole near-death experience, talked to God, the whole thing," he said. "And it just, it humbled me down to my knees. I realized that rock bottom had a basement. It really got me to a spot where I didn't know if I was gonna survive. And I just remember, keep breathing, keep rocking and keep going."
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At the time, the country music star was left in a paralyzed state and unsure of his future.
"All of that paralyzed my left side and completely left me in a paralytic situation on my left," he said. "And that was when the mental battle started."
"The doctors came in and told me that I'd had a hemorrhagic stroke and that I had a long road ahead of me," he continued. "And that I would be lucky, they didn't say this, but I heard them murmuring that I'll be lucky to walk again, much less get back on stage."
"That's when my world kind of crashed in around me of like, 'I've put so much time into this, and I've been so passionate about it. What am I going to do now? I've got a bed pan and I can't even feed myself.'"
During his recovery, White leaned heavily on his friends, family and, most importantly, his faith.
It was during his near-death experience that he had a "very peaceful" and real interaction with God.
"My faith, I like to describe it like this. The sun feels different on my cheek than it does on your cheek," he said. "That is fate for me. I am a Jesus following guy that believes in that wholeheartedly. Met him, saw him, talked to him. It's as real as me and you talking right now ... He was like, 'What's going on? Tell me what's up.' It was the most peaceful I'd ever been in my life in that moment."
WATCH: Drake White says he felt ‘peace’ while interacting with God during near-death experience
"I was not scared, I was just not. It's just like a transition," he continued. "I could feel it. It was palpable. You know what I mean? I could touch it. It's not this, like, cosmic psychedelic thing. I mean, for some people it might be because the sun feels different. But whatever faith is for you, it meets you where you are. It meets you where you are in a hospital bed or in a car wreck or whatever it is. It met me where I was."
"I can't say what it does for anybody. But I am a man of faith. I believe in the Christian values. I believe in the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost. I believe all this," he added. "I choose to believe it ... It gave me so much peace. It was the most peaceful I've ever been."
White has also leaned on modern medicine throughout his recovery and credits an electrical stimulation device developed by Bioness Medical that has helped him regain control of his left side.
"I put this [device] on, and it measures your gait of your walk," White explained. "And when you're coming through, it pulses an electro current. And it shocks that muscle that controls your dorsiflexion, that controls my foot, it controls my quad. That sends a signal to my brain, the part of my brain that was affected by the stroke."
"So I'm walking, I'm performing, I am working out with this Bioness device, and it's forming, it's firing these electronic pulses, and it is firing to my brain, 'Hey lift your foot up.' So it's healing me as we're speaking."
Amid the healing, White and his wife, Alex, were hit with another tragedy six years after his stroke.
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In September 2025, the couple — who are parents to a 3-year-old son — announced the death of their newborn daughter, Della Elizabeth.
"On Sunday, August 31st our precious daughter, Della Elizabeth White, went peacefully to be with Jesus. We are so thankful for the holy moments God gave us with her," the couple captioned a joint Instagram post.
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"The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. -Psalm 34:18," the couple wrote.
"I am dying from my grief; my years are shortened by sadness. Misery has drained my strength; I am wasting away from within. But I am trusting you, O Lord, saying, 'You are my God!' My future is in your hands. -Psalm 31:10, 14-15," they shared.
For White, having faith is "an honor."
"We're here. It's 2026. And no matter what the news says, this is the best time to be alive, because it's the only time you have a choice," he told Fox News Digital. "This is not your choice. You're alive now. And I chose the victor and not the victim. And that is a good place to be. And every now and then, I'll get into the victim world and I have to get out of it. And that's when faith and people come in."