LOCASH Singer Preston Brust Opens Up About Struggle with Bell’s Palsy
August 17, 2022
Country music duo Preston Brust and Chris Lucas, known as LOCASH, are currently climbing the charts with their single “Beach Boys.”
After breaking out in 2015 with “I Love This Life,” LOCASH followed up with number one hits like “I Know Somebody” and “One Big Country Song.”
Now, one-half of the duo, Preston Brust, is opening up about his health to PEOPLE magazine. The country star shares in the new issue that he was diagnosed with Bell’s Palsy in December 2009.
“I was brushing my teeth, and all of a sudden I looked in the mirror and there was toothpaste just coming out of the right side of my mouth — all down my beard and onto my shirt,” he told the outlet.
Brust says he went to the hospital fearing it was a stroke and that’s when he was diagnosed with Bells Palsey.
According to the Mayo Clinic, “Bell’s palsy is a condition that causes sudden weakness in the muscles on one side of the face.”
The singer tells PEOPLE he feared his illness would hurt the band’s career.
“My initial reaction was like, ‘I can’t let anybody see me like this,'” he recalls. “But Chris had my back, and I didn’t want to stop working. I was like, ‘I’m letting LOCASH down if I don’t go out and work and tour.'”
Brust says he had regained about 70% of his strength in the right side of his face and then the Bell’s Palsey returned in December.
“I count my blessings. I’m getting stronger every day, and I don’t worry about it quite as much—especially the second time around,” says Brust. “It’s like, ‘OK, we got through this once, we can do it again. We know this is going to be a long journey, so pack your bags — and let’s roll, let’s do this.'”
