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Sam Smith has been forced to cancel his remaining Australian tour dates due to a bleed on his vocal cords. The singer said he was "deeply, deeply saddened" by the news in a statement released on Tuesday, just hours before he was due to take to the stage in Sydney.
"I have been vocally exhausted for a while now however last night in Sydney I had a small haemorrhage on my vocal cords," Sam revealed. "The doctors have told me I need to fully rest until my vocal cords have healed, otherwise this could become a huge long-term issue."
The 22-year-old continued to apologize to fans before promising to announce re-arranged tour dates in the near future. "This kills me," he added.
Sam Smith has had to cancel his Australian tour dates
Sam had been scheduled to perform a further four shows in Australia, and was also due to perform at the Logies Awards on Sunday, before traveling to Japan later in the week.
The Grammy Award-winning star had been enjoying his time in Oz ahead of his illness, and even got a new tattoo in a sign of his dedication to his fans, who he affectionately calls his "sailors."
"For you, my little sailors," he captioned the black-and-white image which showed off a new anchor inking on his left forearm.
Sam has enjoyed a meteoric rise to fame in the last 12 months, which has seen him gain legions of loyal followers around the world. The global success of his debut album In The Lonely Hour has also seen him join the under 30s Sunday Times Music Rich List for the first time. The "Stay With Me" singer, whose record was the fastest-selling of the year, came in at number 14 with an estimated fortune of $18 million.
The 22-year-old has also stunned fans with his new, slimmer figure in recent weeks after enlisting the help of nutritional therapist Amelia Freer and her book Eat. Nourish. Glow. Sam revealed that he had lost over 14 pounds in two weeks and "transformed" his relationship with food since following the plan.
And Sam isn't the only singer to battle vocal cord problems. John Mayer, Adele, Keith Urban and Julie Andrews have all had surgery and been on vocal rest.