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Elvis Costello, Recovering from Cancer Surgery, Cancels Tour Dates

The singer-songwriter wrote on his website that he'd been diagnosed with "a small but very aggressive cancerous malignancy." He's confirmed a new album, and he says he'll "return at the soonest opportunity."

Elvis Costello has cancelled the remainder of his European tour on the advice of his doctor. In a note to fans this morning, Costello revealed that he had been diagnosed with cancer, and though he has performed shows since undergoing surgery, he has now been told to rest.

"Six weeks ago my specialist called me and said, 'You should start playing the Lotto.' He had rarely, if ever, seen such a small but very aggressive cancerous malignancy that could be defeated by a single surgery," Costello wrote on his website. Doctors recommend roughly a month's worth of recovery time after such surgery, but the singer says he had no idea how long he might have to take in his odd line of work. "It was impossible to judge how this advisory would line up with the demands on a traveling musician, playing 90-minute to two-hour plus performances on a nightly basis."

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In the end, the tour took its toll. "The spirit has been more than willing but I have to now accept that it is going to take longer than I would have wished for me to recover my full strength," he writes.

He did, however, confirm that he and his band, The Imposters, will release a new album in October. "We will return at the soonest opportunity to play that music and your favorite songs that still make sense to us all."

Though Costello doesn't state what type of cancer he'd been diagnosed with, he does address one part of his note to men: "Gentlemen, do talk to your friends—you'll find you are not alone—seek your doctor's advice if you are in doubt or when it is timely and act as swiftly as you may in these matters. It may save your life. Believe me, it is better than playing roulette."

The tour was scheduled for three more UK dates before shows in Croatia, Austria, Norway, and Sweden.

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