Dr. Dre was near death after suffering a brain aneurysm nearly two years ago.
The music mogul was admitted to Cedars-Sinar Medical Center in Los Angeles on 5 January 2021, but following treatment, was released from the hospital in February, and continued to recuperate at home.
Reflecting on the health scare during an interview with Dolvett Quince for the Workout the Doubt podcast, Dre revealed that he was so ill at one point that doctors invited his family to his hospital bed so they could say their “last goodbyes”.
“They allowed my family to come in. I found out later, they called them up so they could say their last goodbyes because they thought I was outta here,” he said. “It was that serious.”
Dre, real name Andre Young, went on to recall how doctors would wake him up every hour to conduct tests.
“Because of what was going on in my brain, they had to wake me up every hour on the hour for two weeks to do these tests,” the 57-year-old continued. “Basically, looking like sobriety tests, like touch your nose, rub your heel on your calf and all that s**t. Every hour for two weeks I had to wake up and do that…I never felt like I was in trouble. I felt like, ‘OK, I’m just going through (a) procedure, and I’m ready to go home. I’m hungry.’ I didn’t eat for two weeks… That was a really crazy experience.”
Elsewhere in the conversation, Dre discussed how he is producing an upcoming Marvin Gaye biopic.
The project, titled What’s Going On, is to be directed by Allen Hughes.
“I think this is the next big thing for me, the Marvin Gaye movie,” he added. “That’s gonna go f**king nuts.”