Chart-topping R&B singer Jeremih moved off ventilator, but still hospitalized in COVID-19 recovery

ByHosea Sanders WLS logo

Monday, November 23, 2020

Exclusive: Jeremih's mom opens up about R&B singer's battle with COVID-19Chicago R&B singer Jeremih has been taken off a ventilator and moved out of ICU at a Chicago hospital after he was recently diagnosed with COVID-19, his mother says.

CHICAGO -- Chart-topping R&B singer Jeremih, who was born Jeremy Felton, has been transferred out of the ICU at a Chicago hospital after experiencing complications due to COVID-19, his mother says.

Jeremih was at his mother's Chicago home when he suddenly felt sick and went to lie down for a minute.

Chicago R&B singer Jeremy "Jeremih" Felton with his mother Gwenda Starling.

"A couple of hours later he was calling me saying, 'Mom, I need to go to the hospital.' All of a sudden he couldn't walk," said his mother Gwenda Starling. "He was barely walking. He was holding his stomach."

Jeremih was diagnosed with COVID-19 and quickly went downhill. He's been in a Chicago hospital since Nov. 5.

"Things seemed like, all of a sudden, to attack his body," Starling described. "That virus viciously attacked every organ in his body. His body was shutting down and they were telling me every day for a week that he just wasn't getting better."

The 33-year-old is Starling's only son, and he has two young sons of his own. He also recently lost both his father and step-father, so the experience has been nothing less than a nightmare for the family.

"It was a tremendous nightmare. The whole family was just so saddened and just shocked, first of all. After we got out of that whole shock thing, it was like 'OK, we've got to pray,'" Starling said.

And that's exactly what they did, along with friends like Chance the Rapper, 50 Cent, Toni Braxton and others.

This weekend brought good news, as Jeremih finally came off the ventilator and was moved to a regular hospital room.

Starling said she knew he was getting better when he asked for real food.

"I get so teary-eyed, but I get so joyful at the same time because he's pulling through," Starling said. "We've been praying that he can be home by Thanksgiving. It may be a bit much to ask God, but I figure we've been asking for everything else."