Sam Smith described feeling "heartbroken" after "vocal issues" caused them to stop their Manchester concert last night, just four songs into the set.
The singer took to the stage at AO Arena on Wednesday (May 24) and earlier teased fans on social media that there would be a "special surprise" near the end of the gig - they earlier shared a brief clip to social media, hinting at a collaboration with Madonna.
However, after performing their 2017 song 'Too Good at Goodbyes', the lights went out at the venue as the show suddenly stopped.
Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter
At first confused fans at the show speculated there was a "power cut" after the lights went dark for approximately 20 minutes but were later informed the show was cancelled due to Smith having "vocal issues".
But Smith posted a statement to Instagram to explain the reason their concert was abruptly cut short.
"Dearest sailors, I don’t know what to say honestly. I fought off a virus a few weeks ago and since then we have travelled across Europe and had such incredible shows.
"Today in soundcheck I felt fine and was so excited to give Manchester an amazing show tonight, with a special surprise at the end," they wrote.
"During my third song, I noticed something wrong with my voice. I prayed it was just my voice waking up for the show but into the fourth song I could feel something was really wrong."
They added: "I came off stage and have tried everything to get my voice back in gear but it won't. I am honestly heartbroken I couldn't finish the show tonight for you all. I love you all. I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry."
Since then fans have expressed their disappointment on Twitter, believing Smith should have cancelled their Manchester show earlier.
While some described the "anxiety" in the crowd as it was the sixth anniversary of the terror attack at Manchester Arena just days before on May 22.
While others wished Smith well, hoping that their voice was okay.
Earlier this year, Smith achieved their third UK number one album, with Gloria.
Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.
