Lauryn Hill fans fear for the singer’s health after she had to postpone a concert to avoid ‘severe strain or damage’ to her vocal cords.
The 48-year-old hip-hop artist is currently on her 25th anniversary tour ‘The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill’ with the Fugees.
But she was forced to reschedule her performance in Philadelphia on Monday night after a doctor ordered her to rest her voice.
The Killing Me Softly singer wrote on Instagram: “Dear Philadelphia, It is with disappointment that I write this note to you.
“On the advice of my doctors, I have no choice but to postpone the show. I need to rest my voice to avoid more serious strain or damage to my vocal cords.
Disappointment: Lauryn Hill fans fear for the singer’s health after she was forced to postpone a concert to avoid ‘severe strain or damage’ to her vocal cords (pictured in 2017)
Sad: Fans were disappointed by the news as many had traveled hundreds of miles to see the hip-hop artist perform (pictured at Glastonbury in 2019)
‘The start of this tour has been incredible. What a wonderful experience to celebrate this anniversary with my whole family, my friends and all of you.
“I look forward to giving you the show you deserve with a fully recovered and healthy voice.”
Lauryn has rescheduled her Philadelphia show to November 25 and reassured fans that her next scheduled performance, Thursday in Toronto, will still go ahead.
She wrote: “The new date for Philadelphia will be November 25th. It will be a special one.
“Toronto, I’ll see you next. Just a few days of rest and then it’s your way.’
Fans expressed their well wishes for Lauryn’s health, but others were left disappointed after flying a long way to see her perform.
One wrote on Instagram: ‘I wish I hadn’t flown here just to see the show for my wife’s birthday.’
Another said: ‘I traveled over seven hours from Vegas and then got the email. I can’t afford to come back in November. Are refunds available?’
Disappointment: The stripped star took to Instagram to announce the sad decision
A third mourned: ‘What?? Nooooo!!! I came from Spain alone for this concert. I still can’t believe it.’
After her show in Toronto, Lauryn heads to Chicago on Saturday, with performances scheduled in Fort Worth, Denver and Los Angeles next week.
Lauryn announced the North American tour in August, revealing that she would be performing the seminal 1998 record in full with her former band.
In a statement, she reflected on the Grammy-winning LP, saying, “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is and was a love song to my parents, my family, my people, my musical and cultural ancestors, my teachers, my loves, my Creator.
‘I wrote love songs and protest songs – (still love songs) about the subjects and interests that inspired and moved me. I had faith that what inspired me would resonate with an audience that had come to believe that songs like this could only live in the past.
“I loved music, I loved people, I was truly grateful to God for my life, and truly blessed to have a platform where I could share wisdom and perspective through music.
‘I felt a mission to challenge the idea that certain forms of expression and/or certain types of people did not belong in certain places.
‘I enjoyed showing what could work or happen, provided imagination, creativity and LOVE came first.’
The Price of Success: The New Jersey native spoke about a series of pitfalls and tensions that followed the massive success of The Miseducation; The album has sold 12 million copies
In the spotlight! Hill broke through into the popular music landscape in the mid-1990s as a member of the successful hip-hop trio Fugees
Her debut studio album sold 12 million copies upon its release in August 1998.
But fans never got another solo studio album from Hill — and in 2021, she finally revealed the reason why.
‘The funny thing is that no one from my label has ever called me to ask how we can help you make another album. Ever. Did I ever say? Ever!’ she confessed during Rolling Stone’s 500 Best Albums podcast on Amazon Music.
Dissatisfied with the music industry and the toll it was taking on herself her family, Hill retired from public life about a year after the record fell.
‘With the bad upbringing there was no precedent. For the most part, I was free to explore, experiment and express,” the star shared.
‘After the Miseducation, there were countless tentacles, obstructionists, politicians, oppressive agendas, unrealistic expectations and saboteurs everywhere. People had involved me in their own stories of their successes related to my album, and if this contradicted my experience, I was considered an enemy.”
She added, “Oppression of artists is definitely a thing. I won’t go into it too much here, but where there should have been overwhelming support, there wasn’t.”
With that lack of support and subsequent stress, Hill decided she didn’t want to subject herself or her loved ones to another record, and all that came with it, twenty years ago.
“The warp speed at which I had to move to defy the norm put me and my family at a hyper-accelerated, hyper-stressed, and unfortunately under-appreciated pace,” Hill explained.
‘I sacrificed the quality of my life to help people experience something that should have been unattainable before. When I saw people struggling to realize what that cost, I had to step back and make sure me and my family were safe and well. I still do that.’
Album for the ages: The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill had five hit singles, including Lost Ones and Doo Wop (That Thing)