Donny Osmond to Undergo Vocal Cord Surgery
Donny Osmond fans will have to wait awhile before hearing him sing “Puppy Love” again.
The singer, 57, has a hemorrhaging polyp on his right vocal cord, his rep told People magazine. He will undergo surgery, which will be performed Harvard Medical School’s Dr. Steven M. Zeitels, who operated on John Mayer, Adele, and Sam Smith, among other famous singers.
While Mayer took a two-year hiatus from music to recover (he had multiple surgeries), Osmond expects to be back on stage for his Donny & Marie residency — with his little sister — at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas in October. So that means 10 solo performances that he has coming up will be rescheduled and he’ll be sidelined for two Donny & Marie dates in late September.
Fans first learned that the “Go Away Little Girl” singer was ailing in late June. Donny sat out a week of Donny & Marie dates and his nephew, David Osmond, the son of Alan Osmond, filled in. When asked about it on Twitter, he told a fan he had a “severe infection on my vocal chords,” but expected to be “back to normal soon.”
Thanks 4 all your get well wishes. Dr said it’s a severe infection on my vocal chords. Should be back to normal soon https://t.co/3fOl2P4ccR
— Donny Osmond (@donnyosmond) June 26, 2015
A few days later, he didn’t seem worried at all, brushing off his illness as “something going around”:
Sorry Staci. There’s something going around. A lot of people have it. Maybe I got it from the meet and greet’s. :) https://t.co/PjsEpuV6d6
— Donny Osmond (@donnyosmond) June 28, 2015
Well, he’s in good hands for his surgery with Zietels. A leader in his field, the doctor has also treated Steven Tyler and Lionel Richie. In an interview with the New York Times, he said it has become easier to spot and treat these types of vocal cord injuries.
“Is there some epidemic? No," Zietels said after operating on Adele in 2011. "The only thing different happening is the singers know better how to take care of themselves, the doctors know better how to take care of them, and what has been happening always is just getting noticed.”
Well, if anyone knows about riding the ups and downs of a showbiz career, it’s Donny. Earlier this year, the eternally youthful crooner released his 60th album. Yes, we said 60th. It’s called Soundtrack of My Life and we’re sure he’ll be singing songs from it again in no time.
