According to a representative for country star Randy Travis, the 54-year-old singer is in the hospital and is in critical condition.  Travis was admitted to a Texas hospital on Sunday because of a heart infection called viral cardiomyopathy.

Viral cardiomyopathy is a heart disease that affects the heart muscle.  According to the Mayo Clinic, cardiomyopathy “weakens and enlarges your heart muscle,” and the condition can be fatal.  If it goes untreated, cardiomyopathy can lead to heart failure, cause blood clots and cause cardiac arrest.  There are a number of treatments for the disease ranging from medication to undergoing a heart transplant.

Cardiologist Dr. Ramin Oskoui says that it is hard to say where Travis contracted the condition.  “Viral cardiomyopathy can be caused by 30-plus different viruses, but it’s almost impossible to pinpoint which virus it is,” said Dr. Oskoui.  Considering Travis’s troubled past with alcohol, many are wondering if his drinking problem contributed to his heart condition, something the cardiologist wouldn’t dismiss.  “To say that Mr. Travis’ alcohol use exacerbated his problems would be pure speculation, but if someone told me alcohol played a role in his cardiac problems, I wouldn’t be surprised,” Dr. Oskoui said.

In early 2012, Travis had a string of alcohol-related arrests over the course of several months.  In February 2012, Travis was arrested for being publicly intoxicated and getting into a police car.  He was arrested again in August after being found in the road drunk and naked.  Another arrest followed, and Travis was eventually put on probation and forced to pay a fine.

Part of the sentence Travis received in January required him to spend 30 days in an alcohol treatment facility and his lawyer Larry Feldman said that Travis had stopped drinking.  “He’s given up drinking alcohol. He’s drinking eight glasses of water a day or more. He’s on a strict exercise regimen…He’s in the best shape he’s ever been in in his life,” Feldman said.

The “Three Wooden Crosses” singer has been playing shows recently and his spokesperson Kirt Webster said that he seemed fine during business meetings on Friday and Saturday, but that “on Sunday, it hit him.”  No other details about Travis’s current condition have yet been released.

If Travis recovers he has a new album due out in the fall, which will include a tribute song to the late George Jones.  When Jones passed away this past April, Travis performed at his funeral.