Singer Sam Smith to have surgery

LONDON — Singer-songwriter and Grammy winner Sam Smith, who had the fastest-selling debut album of 2014, has told his fans he needs “surgery” on his vocal cords. The 22-year-old singer pulled out of the rest of his Australian tour last week, after doctors discovered a haemorrhage on his vocal cords. Smith has since flown to the United States to see a specialist.

In a post on Twitter, he said: “I am very upset to announce I have been battling to get my vocal cords better (over) the last 10 days but unfortunately they haven’t recovered and I’m going to need surgery.”

Smith also said he was “gutted” to be missing planned shows but that doctors had told him he would be back performing in six to eight weeks.

The singer has had a meteoric rise in the last few years. Sales figures released this week show he had the best-selling album, single and most streamed track by a British artiste in the US in 2014 when Stay With Me was played more than 147 million times. In a separate post on Instagram, he said: “Bad news. I have my operation booked for next week, so getting really nervous. But by doing this, in eight weeks’ time I’m gonna be able to sing like never before, so it’s worth it. I am so sorry to all. Dreading the next month thou (sic), I can’t speak for three weeks after the op.” THE DAILY TELEGRAPH