Sam Fender has had to cancel a string of concerts after a major health update.
The South Shields born musician took to social media, informing fans that should he choose to perform in the next few days, he risks damaging his voice for the rest of his life. Sam, 30, has recently been performing on his People Watching tour, promoting his upcoming album but shared his "heartbreak" as he was forced to reconsider his options ahead of his second gig at Glasgow's OVO Hydro Arena on Tuesday night before his homecoming show at Newcastle's Utilita Arena on Friday.
In a devastating statement, the BRIT Award winner said: "Glasgow and Newcastle, as most of you know I've had the flu for a few days now. Regardless of how compromised my voice was I did everything I could to get it in working order last night to put on the best show possible. Today I've had an ENT scope/camera down my throat and sadly I've haemorrhaged my right vocal cord, I'm absolutely heartbroken.
"This has been the best tour so far and all I want to do is get up and sing again for you all tonight. I've had two separate ENT doctors say if I perform tonight I'm risking lasting damage to my voice and I have been advised to be on vocal rest and not use my voice for a prolonged length of time until it heals. I've done everything by the book this tour living like a monk, it's so unlucky.
"I'm so, so sorry to all of you who are on your way tonight. We're trying to figure out a way to reschedule for you all, more news soon." Fans instantly rushed to the comment section of Fender's post to show their support, with one writing: "Ohh sh*t, so sorry Sam! Well done for fighting through last night, & hope you have a happy holidays!"
A second added: "For the ones moaning about the late notice tonight, I'm sure you'd all be moaning more if he does permanent damage and it all gets cancelled! Have some bloody sympathy!! Could see how much he was struggling last night but was still an amazing show."
"Your health is the most important thing. You gave it your all last night and it's time to focus on getting better to make sure the rest of the tour can go ahead strongly," commented a third. Sam has previously cancelled concerts in order to focus on his health. In 2022, he announced that he was postponing a string of shows having suffered "burn out" from the intense schedule which comes with touring.
At the time, the singer-songwriter who is known for raising awareness of mental health and social injustices told fans it would be "completely hypocritical" of him to continue working, without looking after his own mental health. He told fas that those around him had been worried for about him "for a while."
Sam explained he had "neglected himself" while on the road and hadn't been able to deal with things that had "deeply affected" him while performing. But this isn't the first time Sam has spoken about his health, while he rarely goes into detail about his struggles. Speaking to The Guardian, he explained how he had to shield during the coronavirus lockdown due to health issues.
He stated: "I had to shield, so for the first three months I was on my own. I just drank, over-ate, and played a lot of video games. I was pretty miserable by the end of it." The Hypersonic Missiles hitmaker explained that he handled the pandemic "horrendously" and "didn't look after" himself.
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