Yo La Tengo's Ira Kaplan Suffers 'Pretty Serious Health Scare'

Venerable Yo La Tengo frontman Ira Kaplan was recently diagnosed with a "pretty serious" health condition, according to the band's blog. Gearing up for the indie outfit's annual series of Hanukkah shows, Kaplan wrote to fans about their potential prospects of rocking out to the three-piece from Jersey.

"We strive to make our Hanukkah shows unpredictable, and in one unfortunate regard we've outdone ourselves this year. I'm going to be a little vague here, but I had a pretty serious health scare earlier this month," Kaplan wrote. "The good news is ... well, the good news is I'm on the way to recovery ... but vis-à-vis next week, the good news is that I've been deemed ready to sit in a chair and play the concerts that mean more to me, Georgia and James than most anything else we do together."

Even though Yo La Tengo will be playing Maxwell's in Hoboken, N.J., from Dec. 20-27, Kaplan hints that the energy will undoubtedly be lower, and his ability to shred may be hindered a bit. "If you were hoping to be in attendance for our annual airing of 'Mushroom Cloud of Hiss,' I'm afraid that is now zooming up the Unlikely chart with a bullet. But we're confident that it's going to be a great eight days. We're looking forward to seeing you all, and to not answering any questions about what happened to me!"

All eight of the band's shows will directly benefit several different local charities and tickets are currently sold out. Hopefully Kaplan will heal up enough to give a few signature hunched-over axe solos. Get will soon, Ira!

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