New York City ballroom legend Kevin Aviance has been hospitalized following a life-threatening health scare. Although doctors are keeping Aviance under observation, he is expected to fully recover.
On Monday, Aviance’s team posted a statement to social media with an update on his condition. “In the past 24 hours, our beloved Kevin had a very serious health scare,” the statement read. “While at home, he began experiencing difficulty breathing and initially thought it was just an asthma attack. Believing it would pass, he waited… but things quickly took a turn for the worse.
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“Kevin was rushed to the emergency room, where he was diagnosed with septic poisoning and pneumonia. The doctors have told us that Kevin is incredibly lucky to be alive.”
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Septic poisoning results from an adverse reaction to an infection (like pneumonia). If left untreated, it can lead to septic shock, in which the body’s vital organs shut down.
Fortunately for Aviance, the illness did not progress that far. “He is still in the hospital, currently on oxygen and being closely monitored,” his team writes. “If all continues to go well, he is expected to be released in the next 2–3 days.”
Throughout the 90s, Aviance made a name for himself in the vogue ballroom scene, where he rose through the ranks to become a renowned performer at NYC’s iconic Sound Factory nightclub. In addition to contributing performance work for Janet Jackson and Whitney Houston, he had a cameo in Madonna’s “Secret” music video and appeared in the film Flawless with Robert DeNiro.
More recently, Aviance was introduced to a younger generation when his hit song “Cunty” was sampled in Beyoncé’s “Pure/Honey” from her album Renaissance, in which she pays homage to the forebearers of Black queer ballroom culture.
In a 2023 interview with Out, Aviance recalled his reaction to first hearing his song on a Beyoncé track. “I felt the blood go to my head, and I pass[ed] out in the room,” he said. “I woke up, my friend is gagging. I said, ‘What just happened?’ He went, ‘This happened.’ So we played it again. I got mad, upset, happy. I was crying. I was screaming. And then my phone started to go crazy.”
As Aviance recovers, his family is asking everyone to keep the performer in their prayers. “This is an emotional time for Kevin, his family, and all of us who love him,” the family wrote. “It’s a reminder that health is everything. Sometimes our bodies whisper before they scream. We have to listen and slow down.”
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