Country Star Ray Stevens, 87, Breaks Neck After Suffering Fall

Ray Stevens is recovering from a broken neck after suffering a recent fall.

The Country Music Hall of Fame member, 87, sustained the injury on Sunday, March 29. He was “briefly hospitalized in the Nashville area and is now recovering at home,” per a press release obtained by PEOPLE and other news outlets, per reports on Tuesday (April 7). Stevens will have to wear a neck brace for about four weeks, though he “remains fully mobile and in good spirits as he continues his recovery.” The release also notes that Stevens’ new album, Favorites Old & New, will still arrive on Friday (April 10).

Last year, Stevens “suffered a mild heart attack,” and recovered from a “minimally invasive heart surgery.” Months later, a statement on the Grammy-winning artist’s Facebook page assured fans that his recovery was “progressing very positively. …Stevens remains upbeat and active, now back working full-time in his recording studio as he regains strength and continues forward with confidence.”

Stevens, known as the Clown Prince of Country Music, was born in January 1939 in Clarkdale, Georgia. Throughout the course of his decades-long career, Stevens played and wrote music with the Jordanaires, Elvis Presley, Dolly Parton, Waylon Jennings and many more, according his bio from the Country Music Hall of Fame. Stevens officially became a member of the organization in 2019.