Phil Vassar told Taste of Country he died twice last year as a result of a heart attack and a stroke.

“I dropped dead,” he said. “I was dead for 30 minutes a couple times. No heartbeat. No heartbeat at all.”

Vassar explained he had a heart attack, then a stroke three days later.

The “Carlene” singer admitted there were signs leading up to the heart attack.

“I don’t remember any of it, but I know I wasn’t feeling well,” he said. “And I just had genetic heart disease. Cause I wasn’t a drinker and a partier, or any of that. I worked out every day. You know, I kept feeling bad, so I kept really concentrating on my health and trying to — I never ate anything fried or anything like that. Never did. It just caught up with me, you know, the genes.”

Vassar admits he remembers little over that time, but assures fans its in the rearview mirror now.

“Well, I am. I am. I’m back on tour,” he said. “And I’m back, you know, doing what I always do. I’m not pounding it like I used to. I think I did 100 shows that one year … the year I croaked.

“I feel great. I mean, I love singing. I appreciate it more, I can tell you that. We appreciate being here, being alive.

“I mean, thank goodness for medicine. I probably would not have lived a few years ago, but they now they can stint you and fix your — I mean, you think you’re doing everything right, and then it all goes wrong, right? It’s just weird that way. But that’s his life, I suppose.”

Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.