Top Story Topical
Pillen discusses abortion initiative; woman pleads guilty to tampering; NU bullish on receivers
Matthew Sweet, the Lincoln native '90s power pop icon, suffered a debilitating stroke while on tour in Toronto on Oct. 12 and is now back in Omaha at a rehabilitation center, where he will undergo extensive therapy.
Sweet, 60, best known for his hits “Girlfriend,” “Sick of Myself” and “The Ugly Truth” was on tour with his acoustic trio doing a mixture of headlining shows and opening for the pop rock band Hanson. He was in Toronto to support Hanson for an Oct. 13 show.
Sweet was quickly admitted to Toronto Western Hospital on Oct. 12, his manager Russell Carter said in a statement to Variety. He received care there before being transferred to a rehabilitation center back home in Omaha on Wednesday.
"He is now on a long, difficult road to recovery,” Carter said.
Like many musicians, Sweet has no insurance and will have no touring income to help cover the costs of what will be an extensive rehabilitation.
People are also reading…
“The doctors and hospital care in Toronto were instrumental in saving Matthew's life, but health care is not free for Americans in Canada,” wrote Catherine Lyons, one of his managers, Tuesday.
“He must now be flown back to the States on an ambulance transport plane with medical staff on board, to a specialized rehabilitation center, where he will receive around-the-clock care and therapy for six weeks.
“He will then require months of treatment and rehabilitation that we hope will lead to a full recovery. Needless to say, the costs for all of this treatment will be overwhelming. We anticipate a total close to a quarter of a million dollars," she wrote.
To that end, Lyons established a GoFundMe Tuesday afternoon with a goal of raising $250,000. As of noon Wednesday, the GoFundMe had raised more than $200,000 from more than 3,000 donors.
Sweet, a 1983 Lincoln Southeast graduate, moved to Athens, Georgia, after high school, where he became part of the R.E.M.-centered music scene.
From there he moved to Princeton, New Jersey, where he began his recording career and broke through with 1992’s “Girlfriend,” an album that is consistently on best-of-the-decade lists and made him a leader in the '90s power pop revival.
Moving to Los Angeles, where he had a decadeslong, critically acclaimed run of recording and touring success, Sweet and wife Lisa returned to their home state of Nebraska in 2013. They now live in Omaha, where Sweet has been making pen and ink drawings of cats that he sells on Etsy, as well as working on new music in his home studio.
His most recent release, recorded in Omaha, was 2021’s “Catspaw.” He played his first shows in four years in January and February with his full band, ending his tour at Omaha’s The Waiting Room.
Sweet’s tour dates were canceled Oct. 13 and no appearances will be possible until he has completed his rehabilitation.
“All of us who know and love Matthew have hope for a speedy recovery,” Carter wrote in his statement to Variety. “Matthew has always been intensely focused and tenacious in all of his endeavors— not only in his recording career, but in all of his artistic and intellectual pursuits. I am confident that his signature determination will serve him well as he focuses now on recovery to good health.”
150 Notable Nebraskans
1. Willa Cather
2. Standing Bear
3. Johnny Carson
4. George Norris
5. William Jennings Bryan
6. John Neihardt
7. Warren Buffett
8. William "Buffalo Bill" Cody
9. Charles Dawes
10. Ted Sorensen
11. J. Sterling Morton
12. Tom Osborne
13. John J. Pershing
14. Harold Edgerton
15. Loren Eiseley
16. Dick Cavett
17. Bob Kerrey
18. Henry Fonda
19. Roscoe Pound
20. Ernie Chambers
21. Bob Devaney
22. Crazy Horse
23. Susan La Flesche Picotte
24. Bob Gibson
25. Peter Kiewit
26. Marlon Brando
27. Charles Bessey
28. Louise Pound
29. George Beadle
30. Hartley Burr Alexander
31. Solomon Butcher
32. Bess Streeter Aldrich
33. Joyce Hall
34. Ted Kooser
35. Mari Sandoz
36. Robert Henri
37. Grover Cleveland Alexander
38. J.J. Exon
39. Alexander Payne
40. Daniel Freeman
41. Fred Astaire
42. Edith Abbott
43. Red Cloud
44. Darryl Zanuck
45. Chuck Hagel
46. Walter Behlen
47. Roger Welsch
48. Cliff Hillegass
49. Kay Orr
50. Ernst Lied
51. Grace Abbott
52. Terry Carpenter
53. Paul Johnsgard
54. Malcolm X
55. Robert Taylor
56. Harold Lloyd
57. Johnny Rodgers
58. Rose Blumkin
59. Harold Warp
60. Mike Johanns
61. Sandy Dennis
62. Chip Davis
63. Larry the Cable Guy
64. Walter Scott Jr.
65. Wright Morris
66. Gerald Ford
67. Gale Sayers
68. Virginia Smith
69. Clayton Anderson
70. Edwin Perkins
71. Matthew Sweet
72. Bob Boozer
73. Susette La Flesche Tibbles
74. Alvin Johnson
75. Father Edward Flanagan
76. Moses Kinkaid
77. Robert Furnas
78. Jeff Raikes
79. Joel Sartore
80. Donald Clifton
81. Sarah and George Joslyn
82. Robert Daugherty
83. Dwight Griswold
84. Nathan Gold
85. Ben Kuroki
86. William Petersen
87. Terry Pettit
88. Preston Love
89. Evelyn Brodstone Vestey
90. The Creightons
91. Grenville Dodge
92. Norman Geske
93. Frank Woods
94. J. Lee Rankin
95. Gordon MacRae
96. Montgomery Clift
97. Mabel Lee
98. Weldon Kees
99. Howard Hanson
100. William 'Speedy Bill' Smith
101. Keith Jacobshagen
102. Mary Pipher
103. Andrew Higgins
104. Gilbert Hitchcock
105. Charles Gere
106. Jordan Larson
107. Ed Zorinsky
108. Dick Cheney
109. Roman Hruska
110. Gutzon Borglum
111. Dave Rimington
112. Thomas Rogers Kimball
113. Logan Fontenelle
114. Nick Nolte
115. James Coburn
116. Randy Meisner
117. Max Baer
118. Magic Slim
119. Carl Curtis
120. Seacrest Family
121. Gabrielle Union
122. Paul Revere
123. Jonas Brandeis
124. Herman Cain
125. Paul Williams
126. Nicholas Sparks
127. Edward Ruscha
128. "Wahoo" Sam Crawford
129. Neal Hefti
130. Marg Helgenberger
131. Charlie Greene
132. Lee Simmons
133. Zager and Evans
134. James Valentine
135. Fred Seaton
136. John Falter
137. Aaron Douglas
138. Guy Chamberlin
139. Johnny Goodman
140. Norbert Tiemann
141. Victor Lewis
142. Reinhold Marxhausen
143. Michael Forsberg
144. Buddy Miles
145. "Gorgeous" George Wagner
146. Jack Van Berg
147. Mike Hill
148. Wynonie Harris
149. Swoosie Kurtz
150. Charles Starkweather
Reach the writer at 402-473-7244 or kwolgamott@journalstar.com. On Twitter @KentWolgamott
0 Comments
'); var s = document.createElement('script'); s.setAttribute('src', 'https://assets.revcontent.com/master/delivery.js'); document.body.appendChild(s); window.removeEventListener('scroll', throttledRevContent); __tnt.log('Load Rev Content'); } } }, 100); window.addEventListener('scroll', throttledRevContent); }
Stay up-to-date on what's happening
Receive the latest in local entertainment news in your inbox weekly!
L. Kent Wolgamott
Entertainment reporter/columnist
- Author twitter
- Author email
Get email notifications on {{subject}} daily!
{{description}}
Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.
Followed notifications
Please log in to use this feature
Log In
Don't have an account? Sign Up Today
