Elton John leaves stage in tears after walking pneumonia diagnosis
Singer told the crowd he was ‘so very sorry’ after he lost the ability to perform
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Your support makes all the difference.Elton John left the stage in tears on Sunday night (16 February) after he lost the ability to sing.
He was forced to stop performing midway through the concert, which took place at the Mount Smart Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand.
“I’m sorry, so very sorry,” Sir Elton told the crowd. “My voice is shot.”
The superstar, 72, then began to cry as the audience cheered him on, before staff came to help him off stage.
At the beginning of the gig, Sir Elton announced he had been diagnosed with “walking pneumonia”, an infection in the respiratory tract.
Later, on Instagram, the singer told fans he was “deeply upset” by the situation.
He wrote: “I want to thank everyone who attended tonight’s gig in Auckland. I was diagnosed with walking pneumonia earlier today, but I was determined to give you the best show humanly possible.
“I played and sang my heart out, until my voice could sing no more. I’m disappointed, deeply upset and sorry. I gave it all I had. Thank-you so much for your extraordinary support and all the love you showed me during tonight’s performance. I am eternally grateful. Love, Elton xx.”
Sir Elton’s Auckland show was part of his 300-date Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour, the last before he retires.
In the recent documentary, Elton John: Uncensored, the singer revealed he was “24 hours from snuffing it” when he contracted a serious infection after having surgery for prostate cancer, and said he was so sick he “had to learn how to walk again”.
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