Eagles of Death Metal’s Tuesday Cross Out of Coma, Reunited With Bandleader Jesse Hughes
Tuesday Cross, an entertainer who's played the bass guitar in Eagles of Death Metal and is the fiancée of EODM bandleader Jesse Hughes, has emerged from a coma after two months, according to a Billboard report on Tuesday (March 22).
Hughes hadn't seen Cross for 51 days amid a legal battle with her estranged mother, Maria Gaytan, over the details of her care and her power of attorney.
However, sometime before Cross was transferred from Glendale Memorial Hospital, just outside of Los Angeles, to nearby Mountain View Convalescent Hospital on March 8, she woke up. Hughes was granted his first visitation on March 15 after a judge ruled he could visit Cross at the new facility.
"I never gave up on her because I always had a feeling that one day she would wake up," the Eagles of Death Metal singer-guitarist says now. "At least she's alive. She is lucid, and she understands when I talk to her."
He adds, "Everything I had been through was worth it. It was immediately worth it, all of it. She is with me now. When Tuesday recognized me, it was the best moment of my life. [She's] the only thing that matters."
Gaytan told Billboard that she doesn't know when Cross came out of the coma, but that it was "possibly a week or two after her tracheostomy" in February. She adds Cross then "started breathing on her own little by little." (On March 11, Glendale Memorial said she was still "in a comatose state.")
Earlier this month, Hughes claimed he had been prevented from seeing Cross as he navigated how to handle her care. At that point, Cross, the 31-year-old whose real name is Marina Cardenas, had been in a vegetative state for about six weeks after an asthma attack sent her into cardiac arrest. Hughes alleged an EEG test suggested she had suffered brain damage, and he suggested the hospital wasn't treating her adequately.
"The love of my life is going to die," Hughes then told Billboard. "I believe the hospital wants to end her life. She deserves to live. What if she never wakes up? What if I can't ever talk to her again? The hospital made up their minds long ago that they didn't want to treat her."
Hughes partnered with Life Legal Defense Foundation to petition Glendale Memorial and Gaytan after he said the hospital took direction on Cross' care from Gaytan instead of him.
Hughes claimed he holds Cross' power of attorney to make such decisions. (He and Cross got engaged in 2016, after Eagles of Death Metal found themselves thrust into the November 2015 Paris attacks during their show at the city's Bataclan theater. Cross was there that night — she was due to play keyboards onstage with EODM before the attack unfolded.)
After Cross was hospitalized, Hughes said Gaytan agreed to allow him to direct her care. In a court filing, a text message Gaytan sent to Hughes reads, "Just called [the hospital] to let them know that you will be making decisions since she has been living with you for the last 13 years and practically married and that you will speak to me before consenting anything."
Gaytan approved the procedures, but Hughes wanted more time to consider the recommendations, the hospital said in response. On Feb. 1, Gaytan reportedly informed the hospital that she was no longer comfortable with Hughes being the decision-maker, and the hospital then put her in charge.
Hughes said the hospital did not inform him of the change and that he learned about it from Gaytan. Hughes also claimed a June 2021 document signed by Cross (after she was admitted to Glendale Memorial in a similar incident) gave him power of attorney over her health care.
Cross, who uses an asthma inhaler, collapsed Jan. 23 after contracting a cough she evidently believed was from using spray paint for graffiti. In a hospital declaration filed in response to Hughes' petition, Glendale Memorial said Hughes "reported the patient had recently been smoking crack or meth" when she was admitted. Hughes told Billboard this was a precaution and he was unaware if she took any drugs. He added Cross tested positive for COVID-19 after she was admitted.
Cross is still hospitalized and unable to speak. A surgeon will soon determine if she can have her tracheostomy removed. Hughes is anxious for her to start physical therapy. A judge has so far deferred ruling on the power of attorney argument, indicating the parties should work it out themselves. A new hearing is scheduled for April 22.