Ray J offered grim updates on his health in videos posted to social media, saying on Jan. 25 that his “heart is only beating like 25%” after he was hospitalized for a severe case of pneumonia earlier this month. He added, “but as long as I stay focused and stay on the right path, everything will be all right.”
In a separate Instagram live video that has been recirculated on social media, however, the 45-year-old R&B singer said doctors told him he has months left to live. “2027 is definitely a wrap for me,” Ray J said. “My health is not OK.”
Ray J pointed to his heart and said the right side is “black… it’s like done.” He attributed his health issues to excessive substance use, saying “I fucked up.”
“I thought… I could handle all the alcohol, I could handle all the Adderall, I could handle all the drugs, but I couldn’t,” the “Sexy Can I” singer added. He said he is planning to travel to Haiti in two weeks to “do some voodoo,” and he thanked his sister, the singer and actor Brandy, for paying his hospital bills.
Ray J, born William Ray Norwood Jr., rose to fame in the late ’90s with the single “One Wish.” He also became a fixture of the era’s reality TV boom, appearing on “Love & Hip Hop: Hollywood” and starring in his own program, “For the Love of Ray J.” He became embroiled in a tabloid controversy after the 2007 release of his sex tape with Kim Kardashian, whom he was dating at the time.
Ray J’s hospitalization came shortly after some legal trouble. In November, the singer was arrested after allegedly pointing a gun at his ex-wife. He was charged with making a criminal threat. He is also in a legal dispute against Kardashian and Kris Jenner relating to a settlement agreement surrounding the sex tape.
English (US) ·