Alexander O’Neal and his wife Cynthia were hospitalized after their apartment complex was set ablaze.
Cynthia told TMZ that Alexander woke her up after alerting her about a fire “with his arms in the air.” Then she noticed “a bubble of fire” on the cord of her husband’s oxygen machine.
Alexander burned his foot while attempting to stomp out flames on the floor just before their mattress ignited.
The couple escaped their third-floor apartment and called 911, Parade reported.
As a result of the fierce blaze, they were both hospitalized.
Cynthia was released after observations, but Alexander was kept longer as tests were run on his lungs.
Alexander was recently released from the ICU where he was on life support for bacterial pneumonia and an enlarged heart.
“There was nothing left. There was water up to my ankles,” Cynthia said describing the damage.
“We are so happy to be alive,” Cynthia continued. “We may not have a toothbrush, but we have a car! Our spirits remain good and we are moving forward.”
Alexander was a founding member of the band Flyte Tyme which would eventually become The Time, the legendary funk band created by Prince. But he was fired just before the group took off. ”
“I couldn’t hold no grudges because Prince was the one who kickstarted everything for us,” Alexander told Music Radar.“What a shame he ain’t here with us.”
He would team up with Jimmy Jam & Terry Lewis who were also fired from the Time, to produce some of the best R&B music of the 80s.
O’Neal’s self-titled 1985 debut album featured classic hits like “If You Were Here Tonight” and “Saturday Love,” with Cherrelle. In 1987, his album Hearsay, a major commercial success. He released several hits, including “Fake,” “Criticize,” and “Never Knew Love Like This” with Cherrelle. Although O’Neal has had eleven Top 40 singles on the US R&B chart, he enjoyed even greater mainstream success in the United Kingdom. He achieved fourteen Top 40 singles and three Top 10 albums on the UK charts between 1985 and 1996.