[UPDATE 9/30/21]: Sturgill Simpson briefly returned to Instagram on Wednesday to offer fans another health update. The singer-songwriter revealed that he “did in fact unfortunately hemorrhage/rupture” his vocal cords. For anyone who doesn’t believe him, Simpson included photograph of said vocal cords and his official diagnosis.
This news comes a week after Simpson cleared his concert schedule for 2021, including a five-night residency at Webster Hall in New York, three nights at the Ryman Auditorium, and a string of dates as part of the traveling Outlaw Festival. At that time, Simpson noted that he is “currently getting the best treatment available” but gave no immedaite timetable for when he would perform again, stating “its gonna be a long hot minute before I can return to stage.”
As Simpson reflected in Wednesday’s wistful new note, “I played all the venues I dreamed about playing as a kid, met all my heroes, even became friends with most of them, and got to work and play with some of the finest musicians on the planet over the years.”
With Simpson having concluded his oft-discussed five album cycle with The Ballad Of Dood & Juanita last month and now with this vocal cord issue, this may mark the transition into a new chapter of Simpson’s career. He stated as much at the end of the post, writing, “now I can finally really focus on other pursuits and areas of passionate interest..like becoming the best hitman I can be.”
Read the full post from Sturgill Simpson about his vocal cords below and head over to his temporarily-active Instagram page if you want to see it for yourself.
[9/25/21]: Sturgill Simpson has canceled his five-night residency at New York’s Webster Hall as well as his three-night run at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN. This news comes a day after the singer-songwriter revealed persistent issues with voice loss.
The Webster Hall residency was set to run September 28th—30th and October 1st and 2nd, with the Ryman shows scheduled to occur November 18th—20th. Per an announcement on the Ryman Auditorium website, Sturgill is taking the rest of the year off in the interest of his long-term recovery. Tickets will be refunded outright with no make-up shows announced.
“Much like last year, 2021 (in the most consensual way possible) can ALSO go fornicate with itself,” Simpson wrote on Instagram along with the cancellation announcement.
The saga began to unfold earlier this week when Simpson made a post on his sporadically active Instagram page, alerting fans of his vocal issues.
“Been four days still no better..hoping just viral laryngitis or inhaling treated wood from backstage campfire at Merlefest or something equally stupid and not actual injury to vocal chords for playing too many shows in a row after not singing much for over 18 months,” Simpson wrote. “That most stupid.”
Simpson—who just released his fifth and supposedly final solo album The Ballad Of Dood & Juanita—was forced to bow out of his appearance at the traveling Outlaw Festival in Charlotte, NC on September 19th.
“Everything went to shit in Charlotte. Woke up completely hoarse,” Simpson wrote. “Tried all day make it work but 7:30pm clear it wasn’t happening. Not sure why it took an hour to announce..I guess the venue wanted to sell more beer. Woulda walked out in Charlotte and told ya myself but sorta couldnt talk.”
Stay tuned to Simpson’s website and Instagram page for any updates on his health and tour. Given his proclivity for deleting Instagram posts, the initial health update is transcribed below.
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