Three years after sharing A Sailor’s Guide to Earth, an album that won him a Grammy for Best Country Album, Sturgill Simpson returned this past September with his fourth album, Sound & Fury. In support of the album, Simpson would begin touring across the world, starting in Europe and the UK in January before returning to the states in mid-February to continue the tour. Presumably, due to coronavirus, Simpson was forced to cancel the tour on March 12, but in an Instagram post Saturday morning, he revealed that it affected more than his tour as he recently tested positive for the virus.
Posting a photo of himself to Instagram, Simpson revealed that he was admitted to his nearby hospital ER on March 13 after coming down with symptoms associated with COVID-19 but despite his symptoms, doctors refused to give him a coronavirus test.
This photo was taken at 9am on March 13th when my wife took me to our local hospital ER due to chest pains, fever, and pre-stroke blood pressure levels. I spent an hour listening to a (highly condescending) Doctor refuse to test me because I “did not fit testing criteria” and tell me why it was impossible that I had contracted the virus due to its extreme rarity and that it was not in western Europe yet during that same period (which we now know is incorrect)
Nearly a month later, Simpson finally received a test after finding a “free drive-thru testing facility outside a National Guard depot.” Taking the test with his wife, a few days later he received a call and was told that he tested positive for the virus. Before signing off, Simpson revealed that he will be in quarantine until April 19 and that he wishes he “put a bathroom in the floor plans” all before taking a jab at the government’s approach toward fighting coronavirus.
Sturgill Simpson is a Warner Music artist. Uproxx is an independent subsidiary of Warner Music Group.