Florence and the Machine’s Florence Welch Undergoes Emergency Surgery

Six days after canceling performances at the Zurich Openair and Rock en Seine festivals, Florence Welch revealed that she recently underwent life-saving surgery. The Florence and the Machine lead singer, 36, addressed the string of cancellations impacting the band’s Dance Fever tour in a message shared to Instagram Sunday, with Welch explaining that she didn’t “really feel strong enough” to tell fans about her medical condition.

“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,” Welch wrote. Although Welch did not reveal further details about her health, she promised that she would return to the stage “to close out the Dance Fever tour in Lisbon and Malaga” on Sept. 1, Welch adding, “Maybe not jumping so much but you can do that for me.”

“Suffice to say I wish the songs were less accurate in their predictions,” she concluded. “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.”

This is not the first time Florence and the Machine has been forced to cancel a show. Back in November 2022, the band postponed its Dance Fever tour after Welch broke her foot during a performance at London’s O2 arena. In a statement at the time, the singer said she was “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 U.K. tour, but I’m in pain and as dancers know, dancing on an injury is not a good idea. And [I] have been told not to perform to avoid further damage.” She added that she was “heartbroken as the Dance Fever tour has been my favorite show we have ever put on. The communion with you. Your beautiful faces shining. I love you so much, and I’m so sorry to anyone who is disappointed. My heart is aching. I can’t wait to be back on my feet and back in your arms.”

The group’s current tour is in support of its Dance Fever album, which was released in 2022 and went to No. 1 in the official U.K. chart. The group’s other albums include Lungs (2009), Ceremonials (2011) and How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful (2015), among several others.