Credit: Susan Joy BalinFounding Jefferson Airplane singer Marty Balin will be honored by his former hometown of Mill Valley, California, at the 2018 Milley Awards, scheduled to take place October 21 at Mill Valley Community Center. While discussing the honor in a recent newspaper interview, Balin revealed surprising details of a heart attack he suffered two years ago.
At the awards event, Balin will be recognized in the Musical Arts category for his achievements as a member of the Airplane and its successor group, Jefferson Starship.
Milley Awards are handed out each year to people who have either been born, lived or worked in Mill Valley and have been supportive of or have made significant achievements in the arts. Balin, who currently resides in Florida, lived in Mill Valley from the late 1960s to the ’80s.
In a recent phone interview with the Marin Independent Journal, Balin said of the honor, “Getting a Milley is cool,” while admitting with a laugh, “I lived in Mill Valley for 30 some years and had never heard of a Milley.”
In the same interview, Balin, 76, revealed that the heart attack he suffered in 2016 was very serious.
Balin told the newspaper that following the attack, he underwent emergency surgery, but suffered complications that left him on life support for a time. He wound up spending five months in the hospital, but reported that he’s “doing good now.”
“I’m writing songs right and left,” he told the paper. “I’m finishing two new albums, and the guys in my band are eager to get back on the road. I can’t wait to get back to Mill Valley.”
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