Back in the day, every time we heard Angela Bofill sang her 1979 classic, “I Try,” we didn’t just hear her beautiful voice, we felt her pain. The broken hearted pain she sang about in every lyric of that song, touched us with every syllable. Fast forward to today and although Ms. Bofill, now 67 years young, is just as beautiful as she ever was- inside and out- we once again feel her pain when we witness the everyday struggles she faces, due to her crippling health condition. See the details of what she’s been going through below.
THE HEALTH ISSUE THAT FOREVER CHANGED ANGELA BOFILL’S LIFE
In 2006 Angela Bofill suffered a stroke, which she was recovering from. But in 2007 a second stroke struck the songstress, leaving her paralyzed on her left side. The stroke also took her beautiful alto singing voice and affected her speech, causing her to speak in somewhat choppy patterns. One thing the strokes couldn’t take was Bofill’s positive, humorous personality and her fighter spirit. She refused to feel sorry for herself and in 2010 she and her manager, Rich Engel, created “The Angela Bofill Experience,” which is a concert that Bofill skillfully narrates with interesting, funny stories about her life, while her band and her musician/singer friends, such as Freddie Jackson, Will Downing, Maysa Leak, Melba Moore, Phil Perry, and others, sing her hit songs. The fans and Bofill LOVE it and Bofill once said this in an interview about her shows:
“Any time a crowd comes to see me, I’m surprised. No sing no more and still people come [to see me perform]. Wow. Impressed.”
Many people were so surprised that Angela Bofill had such a major medical crisis because throughout the years, she was the one who always followed a very healthy eating pattern and often encouraged others around her to do the same.
OLD SCHOOL FUN FACT
ANGELA BOFILL WROTE “I TRY” FOR HER EX-BOYFRIEND/DRUMMER, BUDDY WILLIAMS
Angela affectionately calls jazz drummer, Buddy Williams, a “jive a$$” in reference to how she says he did her wrong back in the day. She wrote her 70’s hit, “I Try,” after Williams allegedly broke her heart, but the good news is that they’re cool now.
Angie’s strength is inspiring and we wish her all the best as she continues to fight through her health conditions.
