On 31 May 2008 he suffered a heart attack while at a music awards ceremony, and was admitted to Auckland Hospital. He had a congenital heart problem that had not been diagnosed before. Brown had successful heart bypass surgery two days later and made a full recovery, returning to his duties after a few months. His wife acknowledged that the attack was not stress-related, but rather a family issue, with Len's mother having died from a heart attack at 47.