Stu Kimball Shares His Diagnosis of Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease
Stu Kimball is probably best known as Bob Dylan’s long-timeguitarist, performing with the legendary singer on his Never Ending Tour for a fifteen year run that included 1,323 performances and recording the 2006 Grammy-winning Modern Times album. He also co-founded the dance-rock band Face To Face, made solo recordings, performed in sessions with Al Green, Stevie Nicks, Diana Ross, Carly Simon, Nona Hendryx, Darlene Love, and Clarence Clemons, toured with Simon, and had a longtime stint with Peter Wolf. As Stu has said, he “always plays from the heart, with soul and conviction.”
But now Stu and his wife, Michelle, are applying that soul and conviction to a new challenge: Stu’s diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer’s Disease.
Stu and Michelle knew something was wrong in 2018, when the legendary guitar journeyman, singer-songwriter, and producer began having lapses in short-term memory, difficulties communicating, and absorbing new information. In 2019, he stopped touring with Bob Dylan. Stu had to wait another six months—valuable time to a patient with the disease—before he had a positron emission tomography (PET) Scan at Boston’s Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), where his diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer’s Disease was confirmed, at age 62.
This devastating, all-too-common disease strikes more than 100,000 adults between the ages of 30 and 64 each year, and manifests in about 110 of every 100,000 Americans. Imagine, after spending decades functioning normally, suddenly being at a loss for words, getting lost while driving across town, or forgetting how to perform simple acts, like making a pot of coffee. With new disease modifying treatments available to individuals in the early stages of the disease, early detection can help slow the advance of Alzheimer’s considerably, which is why Stu and Michelle want to share Stu’s experience with this illness. Michelle emphasizes “Early detection is extremely important. It can mean months or years of a higher quality of life for people who are sick and for their loved ones.”
Stu has confronted the disease head-on, refusing to be simply another patient. He has participated in cutting-edge research studies at MGH and performed at fund- and awareness-raising events to support that research. He has become a participant in the hospital’s research studies, conducted by the MGH Frontotemporal Disorders Unit (FTD Unit), because “he hopes the research he is part of can gain insight for the treatment of others,” explains Michelle.
Stu continues to make music with friends—and occasionally guests with other artists in Boston-area performances. In April 2023, he delivered a marvelous rendition of Dylan’s “Forever Young” at A Night With the Arts for FTD gala fundraiser for the MGH FTD Unit. This year, he will be a featured performer with Wall of Grass, a Boston-based folk and rock music collaborative, when the organization stages a benefit concert for the MGH FTD Unit, at the Boston Harbor Distillery on Thursday, June 27, at 8 p.m. Tickets are available at bostonharbordistillery.com. Wall of Grass features a coterie of other well-known Boston musicians, a virtual who’s who of A-listers & friends for life.
Stu continues to perform as much as possible, and still finds the same joy in making and sharing music that he has for all his life. “I always try to play from the heart, to play with soul and conviction,” he says. On June 27, Stu will be playing with joy and purpose that the cure of tomorrow is not so far from the care of today.
BIO
Between joining Dylan’s “Never Ending Tour” in 2004 and leaving it in 2018, Stu strapped on his guitar for 1,323 shows, the most that any guitarist has ever played alongside the iconic singer-songwriter. He has made significant contributions to seven Dylan albums, including 2006’s Grammy-winning, Platinum selling Modern Times, and been hailed by preeminent Dylanologist Peter Stone Brown as “one of the top five guitar players to play on-stage with Bob Dylan — easily.”
“I always try to play from the heart, to play with soul and conviction,” he says. “I play for the singer and the song, and to help bring their vision to life. And when I’m producing, I approach things the same way. Helping artists give their best performances, regardless of the venue — that’s what I love, and that’s what I feel I was born to do.”