All the Details on Bill Anderson’s "Freak Accident" That Led to Canceled Performances

When country music legend Bill Anderson, aka “Whispering Bill,” abruptly canceled his appearance at the Grand Ole Opry on Aug. 16, 2025, along with other scheduled events, fans flooded him and his team with questions about why and whether he was okay.

Considering Bill is 87 years old and has been making music for over six decades, it’s easy to see why fans were concerned, and rightfully so. He revealed on Aug. 18 via his website that he had previously been involved in a “freak accident.”

Here’s what happened and an update on Bill’s health.

Bill Anderson’s missed appearances and performances in August 2025 were due to a “freak accident,” he says, that happened while he was climbing into bed. He explained that as he was trying to get in, he “simply twisted or tore some ligaments or muscles or something in the back of my left leg.”

The awkward maneuver sent him to the floor, leaving him unable to walk, let alone cross a stage to perform his beloved hits.

The twist and fall also left Bill “in excruciating pain,” forcing him to cancel not only his Aug. 16 Grand Ole Opry appearance but also a songwriting session with T. Graham Brown on Aug. 15 and a scheduled performance at the State Fair for WSM on Aug. 17.

“If you know me, you know how much it bothers me to go back on any commitment I may have made,” Bill reflected on missing these obligations.

Fortunately, his time away from the stage is expected to be short-lived. Thanks to “a bunch of ice packs and pain pills,” Bill said in his Aug. 18 announcement that he was “feeling much better today” and hoped “this will all be behind me shortly.”

He also thanked his fans for their thoughts and prayers, and most importantly, for caring.

Aside from the leg injury Bill suffered in August 2025 while climbing into bed, he seems to be in pretty good health overall, especially considering his busy schedule and age. For the most part, Bill has been spared from serious health concerns, though he has faced his fair share of personal hardships over the years.

In 2019, his longtime partner Vickie Salas, who was 15 years his junior, passed away from cancer. Bill shared the news on Facebook on Jan. 16, explaining that Vickie had been diagnosed in 2016.

While chemotherapy and radiation allowed her to return to work as the head tailor at a men’s store in Nashville, tumors later appeared on her liver and lungs. She continued treatment, but after surgery was ruled out, she entered hospice care.

Bill and Vickie first met when she was 19 and married to his guitar player in his band. Years later, after both had gone through marriages and divorces, they reconnected and spent 12 years together before her passing in 2019.

Although they never married or lived together, Bill said she had become “his everything.”