Joshua Bassett Reveals He Suffered From Septic Shock & Heart Failure After “Driver’s License” Was Released

Joshua Bassett is opening up about his trip to the emergency room just two days after Olivia Rodrigo released “Driver’s License,” and one day after the release of his own single, “Lie Lie Lie.” He said that he’s sure “stress had a part in it.”

The High School Musical: The Musical: The Series actor had to have emergency surgery after experiencing septic shock and heart failure. Though he was unclear about the cause of his sudden illness, Bassett said that doctors told him he had a 30 percent chance of survival. He told GQ, that if he “had not checked into the hospital within 12 hours, [dead] would have been found [dead] in [his] apartment.”

While the release of Rodrigo’s hit single put Bassett in the middle of a pop culture storm, he couldn’t focus on all the attention he was getting. He said that he “didn’t have any energy to be able to focus on anything but staying alive.”

On the release day of “Lie Lie Lie,” the singer posted a video on Instagram from the hospital.

He wrote, “welp… not the first place i assumed i’d be on my Lie Lie Lie release day… the ER!! (before you ask, no it’s not covid.) after an unknown, uncomfortable feeling turned into, times 10, the worst pain of my life, i figured i’d just try to sleep. after multiple, very very ugly days and nights, i had no choice today but be taken to the hospital. i’d like to say thank you!!!! for all the support on the song!!! i’ve been doing what i can today to stay involved. had my first surgery tonight ! gonna rest at the hospital and the doctors will see what they see in the morn!
much love to all!
joshy

(p.s.the doctors here are the sweetest, most professional people in the 🌎. they’ve made me feel very safe!)

(p.P.s. according to the doc, i now have the medal for “the sickest patient in the hospital.” how cool!!!)”

Bassett said that he was unsure what was happening to him before he decided to go to the hospital. He said, “[I] started getting very ill, and it kept getting worse. I thought it was, like, food poisoning or whatever. It got worse, it got worse, it got worse, it got worse.” He added that he was eventually hospitalized with “unimaginable pain.”