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- 15 Singers Who Dealt with Vocal Injuries, From Miley Cyrus to Justin Timberlake and Meghan Trainor</p>
<p>Andrea Wurzburger, Paris C.June 28, 2025 at 12:01 AM</p>
<p>Lionel Hahn/Getty; Kevin Mazur/Getty; Rodin Eckenroth/FilmMagic</p>
<p>Miley Cyrus at the Grammys on Feb. 4, 2024, in Los Angeles; Justin Timberlake at the 2024 iHeartRadio Music Awards on April 1, 2024, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles; Meghan Trainor at the opening night of the Intuit Dome on Aug. 15, 2024, in Los Angeles</p>
<p>There's no instrument more important to a singer than their voice.</p>
<p>Adele and Sam Smith may be known for belting out high notes during their performances, just as the legendary Céline Dion is for digging deep to reach her incomparable range. Still, even the most gifted vocalists aren't immune to vocal strain and fatigue.</p>
<p>Each of these singers has experienced the emotional and physical toll of a vocal injury, sometimes requiring prolonged vocal rest, intensive surgery or medical treatment. Their stories of recovery shed light on the incredible discipline, patience and strength it takes to overcome these challenges.</p>
<p>Learn how 15 singers not only healed from but triumphed over career-threatening vocal injuries.</p>
<p>Miley Cyrus</p>
<p>Denise Truscello/Getty Images Miley Cyrus performing onstage at the 2019 iHeartRadio Music Festival at T-Mobile Arena on Sept. 21, 2019, in Las Vegas</p>
<p>In November 2019, Miley Cyrus underwent surgery after discovering an issue with her vocal cords, which she unknowingly had for years. The recovery process involved weeks of silence and vocal rest and, as she told Variety in June 2020, was caused by "over-use."</p>
<p>"My doctor looked at my vocal cords, and he said, 'No one shy ever has to get this surgery. This is from over-use of the vocal cords,' " the "Flowers" singer said. "It's no surprise that I would have this. I've been touring since I was 12 years old, but it's not even the touring that's the hard part. It's you end up staying up late and meet-and-greets and things like that. And obviously, I just talk a s--- ton."</p>
<p>Related: Miley Cyrus Thinks Her Singing Voice 'Changed a Lot' After Malibu House Fire: 'I Could Sing Better'</p>
<p>Sam Smith</p>
<p>Alejandro Garcia/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock Sam Smith performing onstage at the Palau Sant Jordi in Barcelona on May 15, 2018, during their 'The Thrill of It All' Tour</p>
<p>Smith announced in May 2015 that they needed to undergo surgery for damaged vocal cords. The "Unholy" singer had previously postponed their Australian tour due to a small hemorrhage on their cords.</p>
<p>As E! Online reported, Smith wrote a message to their fans about the matter in a since-deleted Instagram post: "Dear all: I am very upset to announce I have been battling to get my vocal cords better the last 10 days but unfortunately they haven't recovered and I am going to need surgery. I'm so gutted to be missing all the shows and events I was meant to be playing at. The doctors say I will be back in 6-8 weeks and I cannot wait to sing for you all soon."</p>
<p>The Grammy-winning recording artist sustained similar vocal cord issues in 2023 that prompted them to abruptly end a concert in Manchester. Thankfully, after a month of vocal rest, they returned to the stage in better health to resume their European tour.</p>
<p>Michael Bublé</p>
<p>Adrian Monroy/Medios y Media/Getty</p>
<p>Michael Bublé performs at Arena Ciudad de México on Oct. 12, 2023, in Mexico City</p>
<p>In May 2016, Michael Bublé announced on X that he would cancel several performances "due to pending vocal cord surgery, which will require a period of time for me to rest and recover."</p>
<p>Months after his operation, the "Haven't Met You Yet" singer spoke with PEOPLE in August 2016 about his recovery process. "You can imagine not knowing and worrying, before. But the moment that I woke up from the surgery, the doctor told me that it wasn't as invasive as he'd first thought and that everything was completely fine and better than expected," Bublé said.</p>
<p>"That was a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders," he added. "It's funny because it's now been a couple of months, and I don't even think about it. Sometimes I forget I even had it done; I feel so much stronger than I did then."</p>
<p>Adele</p>
<p>Glenn Hunt/Getty Adele at the Gabba on March 4, 2017, in Brisbane, Australia</p>
<p>Adele underwent throat surgery in November 2011 after experiencing a hemorrhaged vocal cord. The injury caused the powerhouse singer to cancel shows in the U.S. and U.K. Fortunately, the surgery was successful, and she was back at it by February 2012.</p>
<p>"[If felt] like someone put a curtain over my throat...and I could feel it. It felt like something popped in my throat," the "Easy on Me" singer said in a 60 Minutes profile recalling how her voice gave out in 2012. "I had laser surgery. [They] put lasers down your throat, cut off the polyp and kind of laser your hemorrhage back together and fix it."</p>
<p>In June 2017, the Grammy-winning recording artist experienced another vocal injury that prompted her to cancel two shows at London's Wembley Stadium.</p>
<p>"I went to see my throat doctor this evening because my voice didn't open up at all today and it turns out I have damaged my vocal cords. And on medical advice I simply am unable to perform over the weekend," she explained in a statement on Twitter (now X) at the time. "To say I'm heartbroken would be … a complete understatement."</p>
<p>As a testament to her vocal prowess, Adele later embarked on a two-year residency at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas from November 2022 to 2024, delivering 100 performances.</p>
<p>Céline Dion</p>
<p>Samir Hussein/Redferns Céline Dion at Barclaycard presents British Summer Time Hyde Park on July 5, 2019, in London</p>
<p>Dion had to cancel a series of her Las Vegas shows to undergo a "minimally invasive surgical procedure" in March 2018.</p>
<p>A statement from the singer revealed she had been "dealing with a condition in her middle ear known as Patulous Eustachian tube, which causes hearing irregularities, and makes it extremely difficult to sing."</p>
<p>The star was back to performing just a few months after surgery.</p>
<p>In August 2022, Dion disclosed her diagnosis of stiff-person syndrome (SPS) — a neurological disorder that impacts muscle control and can cause debilitating spasms. The rare condition — which also affects how she uses her vocal cords — caused the singer to cancel her scheduled tour dates from May 2023 to April 2024.</p>
<p>Speaking with NBC News' Hoda Kotb to promote her 2024 Amazon Prime Video documentary I Am: Céline Dion, which chronicles her struggles with SPS, Dion described singing with the disorder as feeling like "somebody is strangling you."</p>
<p>"It's like somebody is pushing your larynx/pharynx," she added. "It was like talking like that, and you cannot go high or lower."</p>
<p>Dion made her comeback on the world stage, performing live (in French!) to close the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics.</p>
<p>Related: Céline Dion Recalls Changing Her Songs While Singing Through Stiff-Person Syndrome Symptoms: 'I Did My Very Best'</p>
<p>Julie Andrews</p>
<p>Disney General Entertainment Content via Getty</p>
<p>Julie Andrews in 1972.</p>
<p>Julie Andrews underwent surgery in 1997 to remove noncancerous nodules on her vocal cords, which resulted in the singer losing her singing voice following the procedure.</p>
<p>"If it had happened earlier, it would have been really devastating," Andrews told PEOPLE in 2015. "As it was, it was devastating."</p>
<p>Despite this, Andrews has continued to find success in film, appearing in movies like The Princess Diaries (2001) and voicing characters in Shrek 2 (2004), Despicable Me (2010) and Minions: The Rise of Gru (2022) as well being the voice of Lady Whistledown on Bridgerton. She's also written several children's books.</p>
<p>Björk</p>
<p>Santiago Felipe/Getty Björk onstage during her 'Cornucopia' concert series at The Shed on May 22, 2019, in New York City</p>
<p>In 2012, Björk revealed that she had surgery to remove a polyp after years of attempting to keep it under control with diet and exercise.</p>
<p>"I have to say, in my case anyway: surgery rocks!" she wrote on her Facebook page. "I stayed quiet for [three] weeks and then started singing and definitely feel like my chords are as good as [pre-nodule]."</p>
<p>The singer opened up in 2015 about the surprising impact the operation had on her vocal range, telling Time Out London, "Since the operation, I have some of the high notes better than I have had for a while, but also I've got some deep notes that I didn't have before. And I haven't used them."</p>
<p>Meghan Trainor</p>
<p>Kevin Mazur/Kevin Mazur/Getty</p>
<p>Meghan Trainor performs at TD Pavilion at the Mann on Sept. 7, 2024, in Philadelphia</p>
<p>Back in September 2015, Meghan Trainor had to go under the knife for a hemorrhaged vocal cord, which forced her to cancel the remaining shows for her M Train tour.</p>
<p>"I look so hurt haha I survived tho!" the pop star captioned a since-deleted before-and-after Instagram post following the successful procedure. "Thank you Dr. Nasseri for being my hero. Now just napping all day long on the couch with mama and getting free head rubs. any movie suggestions?"</p>
<p>Speaking to PEOPLE at the Just Dance 2016 launch celebration that October, the Grammy winner explained how the surgery made her more cautious about how often she uses her voice. "This morning during glam, I didn't speak at all because I was like, 'I'm gonna save it for today because I have an hour of interviews,' so I have to think like that, which a lot of people don't have to do, but it's a new thing in my world," Trainor said.</p>
<p>In 2017, the "Me Too" singer had to undergo the same surgery again, which prompted her to quit drinking, eat healthier and work out more to preserve her voice. "My voice sounds better than ever," she told PEOPLE in 2018. "It's just clean and crisp but still sounds like me."</p>
<p>Elton John</p>
<p>Kevin Winter/Getty Elton John on stage at iHeartRadio ICONS: Celebrating the Launch of Elton John's Autobiography, 'Me,' at the iHeartRadio Theater Los Angeles on Oct. 16, 2019</p>
<p>In 1987, The New York Times reported that Elton John had undergone throat surgery, and at the time, there was much speculation about what was ailing the star. Though the surgery was said to be "exploratory," rumors had it that the singer had throat cancer, while others said that he had nodules.</p>
<p>At any rate, the singer told Billboard in 2004: "My voice is the thing that's really improved the most over the last few years. There's more resonance to it. It started to change when I had the operation in Australia after the live album, because of the nine cancerous… whatever it was on my vocal cords."</p>
<p>Related: Elton John Reveals Which of His Own Songs Are His Favorites — and Which Hit He Cannot Stand</p>
<p>John Mayer</p>
<p>Daniel Knighton/Getty John Mayer performing onstage at Viejas Arena on Sept. 11, 2019, in San Diego</p>
<p>John Mayer has twice had a granuloma in his throat, causing him to have surgery in the fall of 2011 and again in September 2012. The granuloma — a mass of inflamed tissue — forced the singer into vocal rest that involved not singing for six months.</p>
<p>"It's a benign thing that is a terror on somebody because where it grows is where your vocal cords hit," Mayer described in a November 2019 podcast interview with Dean Delray. "And there's acid reflux coming up from the bottom, and there's vocal cords hitting. And this flesh doesn't get a chance to heal."</p>
<p>The musician added: "Oddly enough my vocal cords were fine it was that they wouldn't close because this granulated tissue would just keep growing. And the first thing I had done to it was I had it removed — which creates a scar that I'll always have and I'll always deal with."</p>
<p>Freddie Mercury</p>
<p>Phil Dent/Redferns</p>
<p>Freddie Mercury performing with Queen at Live Aid on July 13, 1985, at Wembley Stadium</p>
<p>Freddie Mercury was diagnosed with vocal nodules in February 1975 but refused surgery because he feared it would ruin his voice. As a result, the growths that formed on the late Queen frontman's vocal cords continued to impact him.</p>
<p>Keith Urban</p>
<p>Brett Carlsen/Getty</p>
<p>Keith Urban performs during the 17th Academy Of Country Music Honors on August 21, 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee.</p>
<p>In November 2011, country singer Keith Urban announced he would undergo surgery to remove a polyp from his vocal cords. The star then had to commit to vocal rest for the rest of that year and into January 2012.</p>
<p>Urban told Access Hollywood of the experience: "I had this operated on and you have to [go] three weeks [with] no talking, no uttering a sound, and you can't cry, you can't sneeze, you can't cough, you can't clear your throat."</p>
<p>Christina Perri</p>
<p>Manny Carabel/Getty</p>
<p>Christina Perri performs during Audacy's Leading Ladies 2024 at Kings Theatre on March 20, 2024, in Brooklyn, N.Y.</p>
<p>Christina Perri experienced the worst kind of luck in 2010 when doctors discovered she had a congenital cyst on her vocal cords — one month after signing with Atlantic Records.</p>
<p>"My career had just started," Perri said, per Billboard. "I was like, 'What? I can't have surgery now.' And everyone, like the label and my manager, were like, 'It's really not the time.' There's no way I could've stopped."</p>
<p>The singer went under the knife in Boston in August 2011, but she wouldn't fully regain her voice until the summer of 2012. Thankfully, Perri's career-altering surgery paid off: "One year ago today, I had vocal cord surgery that saved my career + my spirit. thank u to [Dr. Steven Zeitels] + everyone who nursed me back to sound," she wrote on X.</p>
<p>Rod Stewart</p>
<p>Andrew Chin/Getty Rod Stewart on stage at Rogers Arena on April 10, 2018, in Vancouver, Canada</p>
<p>Rod Stewart lost his voice for nine months after doctors had to cut through his throat muscles to remove a cancerous growth from his thyroid, but he ended up regaining it in time.</p>
<p>The singer told The Telegraph in 2001, "I woke in hospital, and the doctor said, 'Don't worry, your voice will be back in six months.' Six months came up and no voice. Seven months, no voice. Eight months, no voice. I could talk but not sing. It only came back to its former glory about four weeks ago, nine months after the operation. It's not as strong right now, but it will be, because I just keep on singing and singing and singing."</p>
<p>Justin Timberlake</p>
<p>Christopher Polk/Getty</p>
<p>Justin Timberlake performs during the Pepsi Super Bowl LII Halftime Show on February 4, 2018 in Minneapolis, Minnesota.</p>
<p>Justin Timberlake had surgery in May 2005 to remove nodules from his vocal cords.</p>
<p>Then, in October 2018, the "Can't Stop the Feeling" singer was forced to postpone his Man of the Woods concert at Madison Square Garden because he had damaged his vocal cords.</p>
<p>"Hey guys, I'm sorry to announce I have to postpone the show at MSG tonight on doctor's orders," he wrote in a since-deleted Instagram post. "My vocal cords are severely bruised. I'm gonna make this up to you and the new show will be on my birthday, January 31. More info to come. Again I'm so sorry to do this, but excited to see you soon. Love, J."</p>
<p>on People</p>
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