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Ray Stevens Recovering from Neck Fracture After Fall

Published 8 April 2026

Nashville, Tennessee - Grammy-winning country music legend Ray Stevens is recovering at home after breaking his neck in a fall last month, his representatives confirmed in a statement released Tuesday.

The 87-year-old singer-songwriter, born Harold Ray Ragsdale, was briefly hospitalized in the Nashville area following the incident on March 29. Doctors advised him to wear a neck brace for approximately four weeks as a precaution during his rehabilitation. Despite the injury's severity, Stevens remains fully mobile and in good spirits, according to the statement posted on his social media accounts.

Stevens, a Country Music Hall of Fame inductee renowned for blending humor, satire, and social commentary in his music, has enjoyed a decades-long career marked by chart-topping hits. His Grammy-winning single "Everything Is Beautiful" from 1970 offered an uplifting message of unity, while novelty tracks like "The Streak" captured the 1970s public fascination with streaking. Other staples include the whimsical "Ahab the Arab" and reflective songs such as "Mr. Businessman" and "Misty." Earlier works, like his 1961 parody "Jeremiah Peabody's Poly Unsaturated Quick Dissolving Fast Acting...

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