Music

Florence Welch shares she had life-saving surgery after cancelling performances

Lead singer of Florence + the Machine recently announced she had cancelled European festival gigs

On Sunday, Florence Welch posted on Instagram to say she had had surgery that had 'saved her life'. Photograph: Joseph Okpako/Getty Images

Mon Aug 28 2023 - 09:33

Florence Welch has revealed she had life-saving emergency surgery after having to cancel performances.

The lead singer of Florence + the Machine recently announced she had cancelled gigs at the Zurich Openair and Rock en Seine festivals. In November last year she ended the band’s UK tour after breaking her foot on stage.

On Sunday, the 36-year-old posted on Instagram to say she had had surgery that had “saved her life”.

“I’m so sorry that I had to cancel the last couple of shows. My feet are fine, I had to have emergency surgery for reasons I don’t really feel strong enough to go into yet, but it saved my life,” the post said.

READ MORE

“And I will be back to close out the Dance Fever tour in Lisbon and Malaga (maybe not jumping so much but you can do that for me).”

The Dance Fever tour dates are in September.

Welch said: “Suffice to say I wish the songs were less accurate in their predictions. But creativity is a way of coping, mythology is way of making sense. And the dark fairytale of Dance Fever, with all its strange prophecies, will provide me with much-needed strength and catharsis right now.”

In November 2022 the band postponed the remaining dates on their UK tour after Welch discovered she was performing on a broken foot.

The singer, famous for hits such as Shake It Out and Dog Days Are Over, wrote in an Instagram post: “I’m so sorry to say that after an X-ray it seems I was dancing on a broken foot last night.

“It is not in my nature to postpone a show, and certainly not a UK tour, but I’m in pain and, as dancers know, dancing on an injury is not a good idea. And have been told not to perform to avoid further damage.”

The album Dance Fever came out in 2022 and went to number one in the official UK chart.

Including Dance Fever, the band has had four UK number one albums, the others being Lungs (2009), Ceremonials (2011) and How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful (2015). – Guardian

LATEST STORIES