Members of the rock and roll group Jefferson Airplane are shown in 1966. At top right is vocalist Grace Slick. From left are Marty Balin, Jorma Kaukonen, Paul Kantner, Spencer Dryden and Jack Casady. (AP Photo, file)

Members of the rock and roll group Jefferson Airplane are shown in 1966. At top right is vocalist Grace Slick. From left are Marty Balin, Jorma Kaukonen, Paul Kantner, Spencer Dryden and Jack Casady. (AP Photo, file)

Jefferson Airplane co-founder Marty Balin sues hospital

The singer says a botched tracheotomy in 2016 destroyed his musical career.

  • By Wire Service
  • Friday, August 17, 2018 10:34am
  • Life

Associated Press

NEW YORK — A co-founder of Jefferson Airplane is accusing a New York City hospital of destroying his musical career with a botched tracheotomy.

A lawsuit filed by Marty Balin against Mount Sinai Beth Israel hospital says the singer and guitarist lost part of his tongue and has a paralyzed vocal cord because of the procedure done after he was hospitalized for emergency heart surgery in 2016.

The 77-year-old Balin helped form Jefferson Airplane in San Francisco in the mid-1960s. The band’s signature hits include “Somebody to Love” and “White Rabbit.”

Lawyers for Balin sued Thursday in federal court in Manhattan. The suit seeks unspecified damages.

There was no immediate response on Friday to a message seeking comment from hospital officials.

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Gallery
Marty Balin arrives at the 58th annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on Feb. 15, 2016, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, file)
Jefferson Starships’ Marty Balin (right) performs alongside Diana Mangano during the ‘Freedom Sings’ benefit concert sponsored by the First Amendment Center in New York on June 20, 2001. (AP Photo/Shawn Baldwin, file)
Members of “The Jefferson Airplane” (from left) Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady, Paul Kantner, Marty Balin and Spencer Dryden pose backstage after the band’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in New York’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on Jan. 17, 1996. (AP Photo/Joe Tabacca, file)

Marty Balin arrives at the 58th annual Grammy Awards at the Staples Center on Feb. 15, 2016, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP, file)

Jefferson Starships’ Marty Balin (right) performs alongside Diana Mangano during the ‘Freedom Sings’ benefit concert sponsored by the First Amendment Center in New York on June 20, 2001. (AP Photo/Shawn Baldwin, file)

Members of “The Jefferson Airplane” (from left) Jorma Kaukonen, Jack Casady, Paul Kantner, Marty Balin and Spencer Dryden pose backstage after the band’s induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in New York’s Waldorf-Astoria Hotel on Jan. 17, 1996. (AP Photo/Joe Tabacca, file)

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