Charlie Rose will undergo heart surgery on Thursday, February 9. The CBS This Morning host announced the news on Wednesday.
“Almost 15 years ago skilled surgeons replaced my aorta valve with a new replacement valve. It has served me well, enabling me to live the vigorous, full, complete life you are all so familiar with. No one loves life more than I do,” Rose, 75, wrote in a statement. “To continue to live this amazing life so full of challenges and friends, including so many of you in the audience, I have chosen to replace the valve with a new one. The timing is my choice.”
The veteran journalist will spend a few days in the hospital before going home to rest for a couple of weeks. He will return to CBS in March.
“In the meantime you are in great hands with my remarkable colleagues, Norah [O’Donnell] and Gayle [King], backed by the best morning team anywhere,” he wrote. “I can’t wait to be back completely rested with my heart recharged, my passion for the work ahead purposeful and my joy at life’s pleasures high. Until then, stay close.”
Rose hosted CBS’s first late-night news broadcast, Nightwatch, from 1984 to 1990 before taking on the PBS program Charlie Rose: The Week, which he continues to host today. He has been a part of CBS This Morning since its launch in January 2012.
