Liam Payne has been hospitalized with a “serious kidney infection” for the past week, forcing him to postpone his tour. The former One Direction member, 29, took to social media Friday to announce “with a heavy heart” that his performances set for September in Peru, Colombia, Chile, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico would have to be rescheduled due to his health.
“It’s with a heavy heart I have to tell you that we have no other choice but to postpone my upcoming tour of South America,” the singer wrote. “Over the past week I’ve been in hospital with a serious kidney infection, it’s something I wouldn’t wish on anyone, and doctors orders are that I now need to rest and recover.” He continued that he was “beyond excited” to perform for his fans in those countries, writing, “To all of you who have bought tickets: I’m so sorry. We’re working to re-schedule the tour as soon as we possibly can, but for now we will be refunding the tickets – so please look out for updates from your point of purchase.” Payne concluded his caption, “Thanks as always for the love and support, and look forward to seeing you soon.”
Videos by PopCulture.com
The “Strip That Down” singer also appeared in an accompanying video message, in which he explained that he had been feeling very ill before being hospitalized. “This really is the last news that I want to tell you,” Payne said sadly. “I’ve just been advised that now is really not the right time to be out on the road trying to recover from this. I have the best people around me trying to help me to recover as I speak. But yeah we’re going to have to reschedule it all.” He advised fans to look out for information on how to get their tickets refunded before concluding, “I’m looking forward seeing you guys soon. Hopefully we’ll put on an even bigger and better show.”
Payne has been focusing on his health as of late, revealing in July that he had been sober from alcohol for nearly six months after spending nearly 100 days in a rehab facility. “I just needed to take a little bit of time out for myself actually because I kind of became somebody who I didn’t really recognize anymore,” he said at the time. “And I’m sure you guys didn’t either. I was in bad shape up until that point and I was really happy to kind of put a stopper to life and work.”
