You know I love Adele, but did you know that I’ve been worried about my girl for months now? Adele’s tour schedule has been all over the place, and she keeps canceling shows month after month because of seemingly unending vocal and throat problems. Adele just cancelled the rest of her 10-city US tour yesterday because of new issues. Adele took to her blog with an exhaustive open letter to her fans to explain what’s gone wrong:
Guys, im heartbroken and worried to tell you that yet again im experiencing problems with my voice. its ridiculous i know! i cant believe it myself. i follow all the advice im given and stick to regimes, rules and practices to the best of my ability but it seems to simply not be enough. i want you to know the full story about my voice troubles so bare with me in this long blog.
i first started having trouble with my voice back in january, it was weakened by a bout of flu from december and never got its complete strength back before i started my UK and European promotional tour, so it just got weaker and weaker until it eventually “broke” as i say. i didnt realise at the time, cause id never had anything wrong with my voice, ever. but id also never sung as much as i was at the time it went. i was diagnosed with laryngitis and ordered to rest intensely for 10 days, and i recovered and went on to do a show in london and a month long promo tour in the U.S and also the brit awards without any hiccups. the whole time i stuck to a strict regime of numerous diets, steaming, vocal rest and vocal warm ups. which is very necessary but insanely grim. After a bit of time off I embarked on my european and UK tours at the end of march and finished at the end of april and everything seemed fine.
in may i went on tour in the U.S, i was in minneapolis which was about half way through the tour. i made a skype call in the morning on the day of the show and during it my voice suddenly switched off like a light! it was literally as if someone pulled a curtain over my throat. i knew something was wrong and panicked but convinced myself id be fine. i got to soundcheck and knew immediately i couldnt perform and with doctors advice cancelled the show. i was mortified and distraught but stubbornly insisted we go to denver for the following day, i did the show even though in the back of mind i knew it wasnt the right thing to do. and during it i felt, what i can only describe as something ripping in my throat. but adrenalin kicked in and i was too embarrassed to not finish the show.
I was sent to LA to rest and get another opinion. this time i was diagnosed with a hemorrhage. which is like a black eye on the vocal chord, it was incredibly tender and dangerous if i was to continue to sing through it. i was ordered to rest, so i flew home and did for a month. then slowly i started fulfilling my commitments. i did a show in london at the itunes festival and then went on to complete the first leg of the rescheduled US shows and perform at the VMAS which were all a blinding success.
however when i got home and prepared to start my UK tour in september i developed a respiratory and chest infection which had nothing to do with any of my voice problems from before but still forced me to cancel 6 shows and a performance at the mercury awards. i was stuffed full of antibiotics, had some time to rest and in the end managed to do 9 shows of the 15. After them and once back home my voice yet again went. mid conversation and it just switched off! i have a hemorrhage again and it is paramount that i rest and therefore wont be able to come and do these already rescheduled U.S shows which are due to start this friday in atlantic city.
the fact is i have never been able to fully recover from any of the problems that ive had and then continue to rest even once im recovered, because of my touring commitments. ive been offered the chance to not tour at all to save anything like this from happening again, but i simply hate letting you down. although now im having to let you down once again through no fault of my own really. if i continue to pick up everything before i have properly conquered these problems and nipped them in the bud. i will be totally and utterly f–ked. singing is literally my life, its my hobbie, my love, my freedom and now my job. I have absolutely no choice but to recuperate properly and fully, or i risk damaging my voice forever.
i have great confidence in believing you know how much this upsets me, how seriously i take it and how truly devastated and annoyed i am by this. wanting to do something so bad and not being able to is the most frustrating thing as im sure you know! my voice is weak and i need to build it back up. I’m gonna be starting up vocal rehab as soon as, and start building my over all stamina in my voice, body and mind. i will be back and im gonna smash the ball out the park once im touring again. i apologise from the bottom of my heart, sincerely i do. i know its not only disappointing because of the show, but its plane tickets, hotel bookings, birthdays, anniversaries and time wasted. but please have faith in me that this is the only thing i can do to make sure i can always sing and always make music for you to the best of my ability. truly yours and yours only forever, adele xx
[From Adele’s Blog]
I do feel really bad for her, and I think her throat/vocal issues are genuine. As in, I don’t think she’s blowing off appearances and tour dates just so she can go shopping and gossip with girlfriends. I think she’s genuinely unwell, and if her throat was up to it, she would be fulfilling her obligations. That being said, she needed to stop this whole catastrophe months ago, when it seemed like she was in health crisis after health crisis – as an Adele super-fan, I think I can speak for most of us when I say this: I’m thinking about my long-term Adele fix, and I want her to have a voice to record more and more albums, and the touring stuff is just gravy. Yes, it’s great to have a pop artist who ACTUALLY SINGS and who depends on her voice night after night. Now just cancel everything, refund the tickets, take six months off, rest, and record a new album.
You want the video again, right?
Photos courtesy of WENN and Fame.
I rather her go on hiatus for a year than have that beautiful voice messed up. Take all the time you need girl! You deserve it!
She should try and give up the fags – smoking must do a number on her health too, making all those throat and respiratory problems much worse!
Get well soon, Adele!
I love her sooo much! I hope the poor thing takes 6 months off, or however long is necessary, that voice is magic.
Her blog post shows completely honesty, and i do believe that she is distressed not only about her health, but about the impact on her fans.
I hope she recovers 100%! Agree that I selfishly would rather have her able to record than tour, hope she takes whatever time she needs – her fans will wait.
I also hope the docs are telling her to quit smoking too, that can’t be helping.
Hope she takes the advice and rests her voice, what a shame!
She’s a chain smoker. If she wants to keep her voice intact, she should (seriously) consider giving up the cigarettes.
Smoking has destroyed both Leonard Cohen and David Bowie’s voices — I still love them both, I love Cohen’s husky voice and I know that was probably caused by his constant smoking but recently I listened to “Famous Blue Raincoat” and his voice sounded SO different: so much clearer and beautiful!
Seems like her Management are pushing her far too hard. If they had her best interests at heart they’d have made her rest when she first had problems.
She stopped smoking after the first bout of laryngitis, at least that is what she said in the last British Vogue interview.
My husband surprised me with two tickets for her show. I’m devastated that it is now canceled. :-(( But I hope she gets better so I can finally see her perform. And because I love her. 🙂
Not smoking would be a great help to her throat/vocal issues.
Love her. I hope she recovers fully. Imagine not being able to do the one thing you’re most passionate about. Sad.
Poor thing! I, too, hope she takes a long time off to recover, so I can selfishly listen to MORE music from her, later.
Speedy recovery Adele! (my 13 yr old son thinks she is the most beautiful girl in the universe LOVE IT!!)
I hope she can take the rest she so much needs and comes back to us with this brilliant voice. Just love her!
Kaiser adele is NOT a pop artist she is a soul artist
Oooohhh I hope she’s not afraid of us Americans! lol. Or afraid of the success she’s facing and getting scared off. Perish the thought! I do wish her a speedy recover tho’, love this woman!
She is certainly well loved so there’s no chance people will forget her. I hope she takes as much time as she needs; she seems so very nice.
She must stop smoking!
I love her too much.
She is an amazing talent. And so pretty. I wish I knew what makeup she’s wearing. The colors are fab and I would love to recreate, albeit poorly.
poor adele 🙁 she should take it easy and not worry herself so much by thinkin that she’s letting other ppl down x x x
OH NO!! Adele needs complete vocal rest along with her rest rest. She needs to take the time she needs to FULLY RECOVER before doing anything else. Her management needs to allow her that. She’s young, beautiful, and completely unique.
That voice would be a terrible thing to waste. She is lovely! (My toddler stops EVERYTHING to listen to her sing.)
QUIT SMOKING, ADELE
She is amazing. Whatever necessary for her long-term recovery, hope her handlers allow her to for as long as she needs.
I love Adele as, would give anything to see her in concert. Mt heart breaks for her because it’s true she is a true Artist who relies on her voice not auto tune or any of that mess..her voice is her true instrument. its sad that those w/ a true gift wind up w/ problems in their vocal cords… I hope it will not be something that will keep her from her gift and will be able to be treated so she can get well soon. But use rest rest rest! If it takes a yr all of us that love her will still be there
I would recommend working with a vocal coach to help her with breathing techniques. She’s a belter and that style of singing is brutal on the vocal chords. If she is breathing and supporting her singing properly, even the most rigorous touring schedule won’t impact her voice.
My sister is a professional singer and she called this cancellation months ago. She remarked that Adele does not try to ‘preserve’ her voice while singing – she pushes it, which strains it. Also, she smokes. She remarked at the Grammys that she wouldn’t be surprised if Adele stopped touring before the end of the year.
Can you imagine the damage to your lungs if you’re smoking while having all these throat problems? Her poor lungs.
Oh well this will give her time to do some writing. All the pain and stress should make for some material for a new album.
I see others have mentioned Adele’s smoking. That can wreak havoc on a smoking voice. It’s an irritant and dries out the tissues of the throat and vocal chords. Not saying that’s the cause of her problems but it certainly could be a considerably contributing factor.
Honestly I’m not surprised – when I first heard the album version of Someone Like You I thought it was so beautiful but I also cringed because she was obviously pushing her voice so far beyond her natural range. I noticed that live she was singing the song a half step lower than the album version and avoiding the really high notes in the chorus.
Honestly, though, I think the only way she can preserve her voice is to rework all of her songs to make them a lot lower than they are when she does them live. Otherwise she will end up in a Mariah Carey type situation.
She smokes? WTF? Adele-quit smoking!!!! I love you and beyond your voice, smoking is terrible!! Be healthy!
Great music video.
PEOPLE! She quit smoking a long time ago! Ofcourse it doesn´t help right away cause she´s smoked a lot, but still she quit smoking for her voice.
I’m so sad, this is second time this year where her concert got canceled 2 weeks before I was supposed to see her, once in June and now October……
Poor Adele, this is horrible news. (I actually teared up for her while reading her blog). I hope she cancels everything and has a really good and long rest.
Yeah, I heard she quit smoking in April.
I’m sure the hardest thing for her to do was to disappoint her fans by cancelling her U.S. tour dates.But at the end of the day she must take care of herself and her health first because health is truly one of the most important things in life.So I hope she takes all the time that she needs because with her amazing talent no matter how much time she needs/takes no one will forget her.
Hometown Glory is my favorite song 🙂 Hope she takes care of herself…
Those commenting on her voice are correct…experts know it too. I took some voice lessons and Adele is definitely a belter, which some people think you shouldn’t do at all or that there is a very precise way to do it so as to preserve your voice. She doesn’t have to change her style but she has to find a healthy way to weild. I remember she cancelled a part of her earlier US tour too.
http://blog.voicewize.com/2011/08/07/adeles-singing-lessons/
And I don’t think rest actually helps the voice either:
http://blog.voicewize.com/2011/07/21/overdid-it-with-your-voice-don%e2%80%99t-shut-up/
I have to echo previous comments and I hope that she finds a great voice teacher and gets it checked out so that she can preserve her voice. She’s too awesome to lose that.
I’m sorry to hear about her health problems, but if some of the above comments are true, the real issue is that of Adele forcing her voice. It won’t help her if her throat gets better but she continues to push her voice too much.
As a side note, did she lose weight? She looks so tiny in the last picture.
bs, she canceled cus shes fat and her publicists are making her fat ass lose some weight. they can’t market her the way she is.
sam – That is cruel and un-necessary. Go away. NOW.
its unfortunate, but its true. her voice is amazing. but image is important. you’ll see in a few months she will be noticeably slimmer…and probably cancelling her tours/appearances rarely if at all.
You know what might help? If she stopped smoking.