DELAND, Fla. — Country music recording artist Drake White, of Drake White & The Big Fire, has overcome a harrowing on-stage medical episode and is returning to the stage amidst recovery.

1. Alabama-raised Drake White has scored four Top 40 hits, opening for bands like the Zac Brown Band on several occasions, Luke Bryan and Eric Church, among others.

2. In August 2019, he collapsed on stage due to a hemorrhagic stroke, then underwent a series of operations to repair a brain condition called Arteriovenous Malformation. Doctors weren’t certain if he’d ever perform again.

3. “I know that I’m a lucky person and I’m meant to be here,” he told Spectrum News during a virtual chat. “It’s not all sunshine and rainbows. It sucked. It was really hard to deal with and it’s still hard to deal with … Not being able to play the guitar as well as I’d like to, or having to ease up a set of stairs instead of running up like I used to … I try to end the day with gratitude and I try to start the day with gratitude.”

4. Another “miracle” he says is having a baby boy after he and his wife endured five years of infertility issues.

5. You can catch Drake’s soulful, Southern tunes March 16, 2025 in DeLand at Café Da Vinci, and then the next night, March 17, at Meg O’Malley’s in Melbourne.