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  3. Miley Cyrus, Céline Dion and More Stars Who've Had to Bounce Back from Vocal Injuries

Miley Cyrus, Céline Dion and More Stars Who've Had to Bounce Back from Vocal Injuries

When you work as hard as these singers do, sometimes it takes a toll
By Andrea Wurzburger November 11, 2019 03:55 PM
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Miley Cyrus 

Miley Cyrus
Credit: Denise Truscello/Getty Images

Multiple sources confirmed to PEOPLE that the pop star underwent surgery in early November after discovering an issue with her vocal cords, which she unknowingly had for years. The recovery process for the surgery will include weeks of silence and vocal rest.

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Sam Smith 

Sam Smith in concert, Barcelona, Spain - 15 May 2018
Credit: Alejandro Garcia/EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

The singer announced in May 2015 that he would have to undergo surgery for damaged vocal cords. The singer had previously postponed his Australian tour due to a small hemorrhage on his cords.

He wrote in a message to fans at the time, “Dear all: I am very upset to announce I have been battling to get my vocal cords better the last 10 days but unfortunately they haven’t recovered and I am going to need surgery. I’m so gutted to be missing all the shows and events I was meant to be playing at. The doctors say I will be back in 6-8 weeks and I cannot wait to sing for you all soon.”

Not to worry, he returned from surgery with the same sultry, strong voice he had before!

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Adele

adele
Credit: Glenn Hunt/Getty

The powerhouse singer underwent throat surgery in November 2011 after experiencing a hemorrhaged vocal cord. Though she was forced to cancel shows in the U.S. and U.K. as a result, the surgery was successful and she was back at it by February 2012.

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Céline Dion

Celine Dion
Credit: Samir Hussein/Redferns

Dion had to cancel a series of her Las Vegas shows in order to undergo a "minimally invasive surgical procedure."

In March 2018, the singer released a statement saying that she had been "dealing with a condition in her middle ear known as Patulous Eustachian tube, which causes hearing irregularities, and makes it extremely difficult to sing."

The star was back to performing just a few months after surgery.

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Julie Andrews

Julie Andrews
Credit: Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/GC Images

Andrews underwent surgery in 1997 to remove noncancerous nodules on her vocal cords, and unfortunately ended up losing her singing voice following the procedure.

“If it had happened earlier, it would have been really devastating,” Andrews told PEOPLE in 2015. “As it was, it was devastating.”

But Andrews has since made movies like The Princess Diaries and Despicable Me, on top of writing a number of books for children.

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Björk

Bjork
Credit: Santiago Felipe/Getty

In 2012, the singer revealed that she had surgery to remove a polyp after years of attempting to keep it under control with diet and exercise. She wrote on her website in 2012, "I have to say, in my case anyway: surgery rocks!"

She added, "I stayed quiet for three weeks and then started singing and definitely feel like my cords are as good as pre-nodule."

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Elton John 

Elton John
Credit: Kevin Winter/Getty

John underwent throat surgery in 1987, and at the time there was much speculation about what was ailing the star. Though the surgery was said to be "exploratory," rumors had it that the singer had throat cancer, while others said that he had nodules.

At any rate, the singer told Billboard in 2004, "My voice is the thing that's really improved the most over the last few years. There's more resonance to it. It started to change when I had the operation in Australia after the live album, because of the nine cancerous ... whatever it was on my vocal cords."

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John Mayer 

John Mayer
Credit: Daniel Knighton/Getty

Mayer has twice battled a granuloma in his throat, causing him to have surgery in fall of 2011, and then again in September 2012.The singer was forced into vocal rest that included not singing for six months.

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Freddie Mercury

PD1013_QUEEN

Mercury was diagnosed with vocal nodules in February 1975, but refused surgery because he feared that it would ruin his voice. Unfortunately for the Queen frontman, his voice still suffered over the years as a result.

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Keith Urban 

Keith-Urban
Credit: Nancy Kruh

In November 2011, the country singer announced that he would be having surgery to remove a polyp from his vocal cords. The star then had to commit to vocal rest for the rest of that year and into January 2012.

Urban told Access Hollywood of the experience, “I had this operated on and you have to [go] three weeks [with] no talking, no uttering a sound, and you can’t cry, you can’t sneeze, you can’t cough, you can’t clear your throat."

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Rod Stewart 

Rod Stewart Performs At Rogers Arena
Credit: Andrew Chin/Getty

Stewart lost his voice for nine months after doctors had to cut through his throat muscles to remove a cancerous growth from his thyroid, but ended up regaining it in time.

The singer told The Telegraph in 2001, "I woke in hospital and the doctor said, 'Don't worry, your voice will be back in six months'. Six months came up and no voice. Seven months, no voice. Eight months, no voice. I could talk but not sing. It only came back to its former glory about four weeks ago, nine months after the operation. It's not as strong right now, but it will be because I just keep on singing and singing and singing."

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Justin Timberlake

Pepsi Super Bowl LII Halftime Show
Credit: Christopher Polk/Getty Images

The "Can't Stop the Feeling" singer had surgery in May 2005 to remove nodules from his vocal cords.

Then, in 2018, the star had to postpone his Man of the Woods tour when he was diagnosed with bruised vocal cords. Timberlake took a vocal rest and was back at it in no time.

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    1 of 12 Miley Cyrus 
    2 of 12 Sam Smith 
    3 of 12 Adele
    4 of 12 Céline Dion
    5 of 12 Julie Andrews
    6 of 12 Björk
    7 of 12 Elton John 
    8 of 12 John Mayer 
    9 of 12 Freddie Mercury
    10 of 12 Keith Urban 
    11 of 12 Rod Stewart 
    12 of 12 Justin Timberlake

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    Miley Cyrus, Céline Dion and More Stars Who've Had to Bounce Back from Vocal Injuries
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