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.