In October 1980, Kantner was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in serious condition from a cerebral hemorrhage.
Kantner had been working in Los Angeles on an album when he became ill.
He was 39 years old at the time and beat considerable odds with a full recovery without surgery.
A year later, Kantner talked about the experience, saying, "If there was a Big Guy up there willing to talk to me, I was willing to listen.
But nothing happened.
It was all just like a small vacation."
It was his second brush with serious illness or injury, having suffered a serious motorcycle accident in the early 1960s: "I hit a tree at 40 miles an hour head first and nearly shattered my skull.
I had a plate in there for a while."
The injury from the motorcycle accident was credited with saving Kantner from serious complications from the cerebral hemorrhage; the hole left by the accident relieved the accompanying cranial pressure.

Grace Slick returned for 1981's Modern Times, which peaked at No.
26 and featured "Stairway to Cleveland (We Do What We Want)," a declamatory punk rock pastiche penned by Kantner and inspired by a phrase uttered by Nite City guitarist Paul Warren.
It marked the beginning of a new era of diminished success for the group; although Modern Times, Winds of Change (1982; #26) and Nuclear Furniture (1984; #28) all attained RIAA gold certifications and yielded several minor hits, they failed to eclipse the Balin-era group from a critical or commercial standpoint.
Despite Kantner's efforts to retain a dialogue with the punk/new wave vanguard and a more idiosyncratic approach (exemplified by a lyrical collaboration with Ronnie Gilbert of The Weavers on the latter album), Jefferson Starship became increasingly beholden to the limitations of the album-oriented rock format.
Additionally, the band continued to depend on external collaborators to an unusual extent for the era, most notably lyricist Jeannette Sears (the wife of Pete Sears) and songwriter/producer Peter Wolf.

In June 1984, Kantner left Jefferson Starship, complaining that the band had become too commercial and strayed too far from its countercultural roots.
At the time, he was the only remaining original member of Jefferson Airplane in the group.
Kantner made his decision to leave in the middle of the Nuclear Furniture tour.
Upon his departure, Kantner took legal action against his former bandmates over the group's name after the rest of the band resolved to continue as Jefferson Starship; as Kantner's lawsuit proceeded, the group briefly performed as "Starship Jefferson."
Kantner settled in March 1985, and the group name was reduced to Starship.
Under the terms of the settlement, no group could call itself Jefferson Starship without Paul Kantner as a member, and no group can call itself Jefferson Airplane unless Grace Slick is on board.
Other accounts maintain that both parties agreed to only use "Jefferson" and/or "Airplane" if unanimous consent was granted by the five corporate directors of Jefferson Airplane (including Kantner, Slick, Kaukonen, Casady and manager Bill Thompson).
The legal battle had personal repercussions as well, permanently damaging Kantner's friendships with Mickey Thomas and Craig Chaquiço.
Although they eventually reconciled, Kantner's decades-long friendship with David Freiberg was also strained when the multi-instrumentalist refused to leave the band with him.

In 1985, Kantner formed the KBC Band with Balin and Jack Casady; they released their only album, KBC Band, two years later on Arista Records.
Although the album stalled at #75 in Billboard, a video was made for "America" (a Kantner-Balin collaboration that peaked at No.
8 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart) and the band embarked on a national tour.
In 1986, Kantner headed for court with Slick and her husband Skip Johnson over the taping of some telephone conversations.

With Kantner reunited with Balin and Casady, the KBC Band opened the door to a full-blown Jefferson Airplane reunion.
Following the demise of the KBC Band in 1987, Kantner briefly rejoined Hot Tuna after perfo
In October 1980, Kantner was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in serious condition from a cerebral hemorrhage. Kantner had been working in Los Angeles on an album when he became ill. He was 39 years old at the time and beat considerable odds with a full recovery without surgery. A year later, Kantner talked about the experience, saying, "If there was a Big Guy up there willing to talk to me, I was willing to listen. But nothing happened. It was all just like a small vacation." It was his second brush with serious illness or injury, having suffered a serious motorcycle accident in the early 1960s: "I hit a tree at 40 miles an hour head first and nearly shattered my skull. I had a plate in there for a while." The injury from the motorcycle accident was credited with saving Kantner from serious complications from the cerebral hemorrhage; the hole left by the accident relieved the accompanying cranial pressure.
Grace Slick returned for 1981's Modern Times, which peaked at No. 26 and featured "Stairway to Cleveland (We Do What We Want)," a declamatory punk rock pastiche penned by Kantner and inspired by a phrase uttered by Nite City guitarist Paul Warren. It marked the beginning of a new era of diminished success for the group; although Modern Times, Winds of Change (1982; #26) and Nuclear Furniture (1984; #28) all attained RIAA gold certifications and yielded several minor hits, they failed to eclipse the Balin-era group from a critical or commercial standpoint. Despite Kantner's efforts to retain a dialogue with the punk/new wave vanguard and a more idiosyncratic approach (exemplified by a lyrical collaboration with Ronnie Gilbert of The Weavers on the latter album), Jefferson Starship became increasingly beholden to the limitations of the album-oriented rock format. Additionally, the band continued to depend on external collaborators to an unusual extent for the era, most notably lyricist Jeannette Sears (the wife of Pete Sears) and songwriter/producer Peter Wolf.
In June 1984, Kantner left Jefferson Starship, complaining that the band had become too commercial and strayed too far from its countercultural roots. At the time, he was the only remaining original member of Jefferson Airplane in the group. Kantner made his decision to leave in the middle of the Nuclear Furniture tour. Upon his departure, Kantner took legal action against his former bandmates over the group's name after the rest of the band resolved to continue as Jefferson Starship; as Kantner's lawsuit proceeded, the group briefly performed as "Starship Jefferson." Kantner settled in March 1985, and the group name was reduced to Starship. Under the terms of the settlement, no group could call itself Jefferson Starship without Paul Kantner as a member, and no group can call itself Jefferson Airplane unless Grace Slick is on board. Other accounts maintain that both parties agreed to only use "Jefferson" and/or "Airplane" if unanimous consent was granted by the five corporate directors of Jefferson Airplane (including Kantner, Slick, Kaukonen, Casady and manager Bill Thompson). The legal battle had personal repercussions as well, permanently damaging Kantner's friendships with Mickey Thomas and Craig Chaquiço. Although they eventually reconciled, Kantner's decades-long friendship with David Freiberg was also strained when the multi-instrumentalist refused to leave the band with him.
In 1985, Kantner formed the KBC Band with Balin and Jack Casady; they released their only album, KBC Band, two years later on Arista Records. Although the album stalled at #75 in Billboard, a video was made for "America" (a Kantner-Balin collaboration that peaked at No. 8 on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart) and the band embarked on a national tour. In 1986, Kantner headed for court with Slick and her husband Skip Johnson over the taping of some telephone conversations.
With Kantner reunited with Balin and Casady, the KBC Band opened the door to a full-blown Jefferson Airplane reunion. Following the demise of the KBC Band in 1987, Kantner briefly rejoined Hot Tuna after perfo
Paul Kantner