Tom Jones Responds to Rumor He Collapsed Onstage Before Canceling Concert

Music legend Tom Jones denied rumors he collapsed on stage before he canceled a show in Budapest. Instead, the “It’s Not Unusual” singer said he was diagnosed with “viral laryngitis” and was told to rest his vocal cords. The Budapest show was rescheduled for August.

Jones, 82, reportedly collapsed at the MVM Dome in Hungary’s capital. A source told The Daily Mail he collapsed about an hour before the show was set to start, but he still hoped he could perform. A doctor told him he should not perform minutes before the show started, a stagehand told the Daily Mail. Hungary’s National Ambulance Service said it was not called to the venue, according to local reports.

On Tuesday, Jones told fans he never collapsed. That morning, he experienced an “uncomfortable throat” and a specialist diagnosed him with “viral laryngitis.” The doctor told him to postpone the Budapest show and prescribed medication and vocal rest. Jones insisted he never collapsed.

“I did NOT ‘collapse’ anywhere at any time, that is pure rumor,” Jones wrote. “Hopefully the inflammation will camp soon as I am looking forward to continuing my wonderful summer tour.” Jones went on to apologize for canceling the Budapest show at the last moment and said it was rescheduled for Aug. 16. The Budapest show replaced a previously-planned Eastern European date for Kyiv, but that was canceled due to the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.

Jones is now on tour to support his latest album, Surrounded by Time, which was released in April. The tour started in Ireland in June and continues through August. He is scheduled to perform in Luxembourg on Thursday and at the Umbria Jazz Festival in Italy on Saturday. Jones will start the North American leg of the tour on Sept. 9 at Borgata Event Center in Atlantic City, New Jersey. The tour also includes stops in Boston, Toronto, Indianapolis, Chicago, St. Louis, Fort Worth, Las Vegas, and San Francisco.

Jones was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2005 and has scored dozens of hits in the U.K. and U.S. during his six-decade-plus career. His hits include “What’s New Pussycat?” “Sex Bomb,” “She’s a Lady,” “It’s Not Unusual,” “Green, Green Grass of Home” and the theme song for the James Bond movie Thunderball. He has served as a coach on The Voice U.K. since 2012, only missing the 2016 season.

Jones is expected to star in an upcoming episode of the acclaimed IFC series Documentary Now!, which parodies classic documentaries for each episode. Jones will join Jonathan Pryce for “How They Threw Rocks,” an episode inspired by When We Were Kings, the documentary about George Foreman and Muhammad Ali’s 1974 “Rumble in the Jungle” match. The new season will debut in the fall.