Randy Travis Undergoes Surgery After a Stroke

Rick Diamond/Getty Images Randy Travis performing at the funeral service for George Jones in May.

Randy Travis was in critical condition on Thursday morning after suffering a stroke and undergoing emergency surgery to relieve pressure on his brain, according to officials at the Heart Hospital at Baylor in Plano, Tex., where he was being treated.

The stroke was a complication of congestive heart faiure, Mr. Travis’s publicist, Kirt Webster, said in an online statement.

The country singer was first hospitalized on Sunday at Baylor Medical Center in McKinney, Tex., after he showed up at the emergency room. Doctors diagnosed his condition as a heart infection that had caused an enlargement of the heart and led to congestive heart failure, doctors said in a video statement.

On Monday, doctors implanted a pumping device in Mr. Travis’s left ventricle to stabilize the singer before transferring him to the Heart Hospital in nearby Plano, where he could get more advanced care, Mr. Webster said. By noon on Wednesday, his condition had stabilized and shown signs of improvement.

But Mr. Travis, 54, took a turn for the worse on Wednesday afternoon when he suffered the stroke, the hospital said.

Mr. Travis’s illness is related to his “recently acquired viral cardiomyopathy,” Mr. Webster told CNN. He had recently been on tour and appeared to be in good health, performing in Detroit on June 28 and Chicago on June 29. During business meetings on Friday and Saturday, he appeared well. “Then on Sunday, it hit him,” Mr. Webster said.

Viral cardiomyopathy is a disorder in which a virus attacks the heart muscles, causing them to beat slower and sometimes stop, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Web site.

Mr. Travis had been through a turbulent year in 2012, being arrested for assault and public intoxication, As one of country music’s top-selling artists, Mr. Travis has won several Grammys and has a shelf-ful of Academy of Country Music awards and American Music Award statuettes. His best-known songs include “Forever and Ever, Amen,” “Diggin’ Up Bones” and “Deeper Than the Holler.”