Singer Fletcher Says That Lyme Disease Has 'Changed My Voice A Lot'

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Fletcher fans were bummed and concerned back in the fall when the "Undrunk" singer revealed that she needed to postpone her tour. At the time, the 29-year-old shared that she had been diagnosed with Lyme disease and needed to heal before hitting the road again. Lyme disease is a tickborne illness that’s usually caused by the bacterium Borrelia burgdorferi. Symptoms of untreated Lyme disease include fever, rash, facial paralysis, and arthritis, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Several months after publicly sharing her diagnosis, Fletcher is now opening up about how Lyme disease has impacted her music. "It changed my voice a lot, my vocal cords a lot," the singer said on The Zane Lowe Show.

Here’s everything to know about Fletcher's Lyme disease journey, plus how she’s doing now:

September 2023: Fletcher revealed her Lyme diagnosis.

Fletcher shared the news of her health condition on September 13, 2023 in a post on X (formerly Twitter).

“I have recently been diagnosed with Lyme Disease,” she wrote. “I started to become increasingly ill over the last couple years and just kept pushing through even though I knew there was something deeper going on.” Fletcher explained that she was “receiving treatments” and “following doctor's orders,” as well as learning more about this “invisible illness.”

The "Lead Me On" singer also gave her followers a little insight into her struggle with the health condition. “Lyme has affected me in a variety of ways and while it has not only taken a tremendous toll on my physical body, it has also caused concern for my voice as well,” Fletcher continued in her post. “This has worn on my soul in a way that’s hard to even put words to as singing is the thing I love most in this world and my voice is my vessel for expression.”

September 2023: She postponed her tour until 2024.

In her post on X, Fletcher also announced that she was postponing her tours in Europe, the UK, Australia, and New Zealand until 2024. She also cancelled her appearance at the 2023 Corona Capital Festival in Mexico City.

"You all know how much I love performing and seeing you on the road and I’m truly heartbroken to let you down," Fletcher wrote in her statement on X. "I debated on whether or not I wanted to speak about this publicly, but I’ve always let you into my world through the good, the bad and the ugly and I didn’t want to stop sharing with you now. Unfortunately, touring & singing every night just isn't something my body is capable of in this moment and i want to show up for you all 100% and give you the best show that i know that i have in me and one that you deserve."

January 2024: Fletcher says Lyme disease has changed her voice.

In a new interview on The Zane Lowe Show, Fletcher shared that Lyme disease has dominated her life over the past year. “I got really, really sick," she said. "I had to move home and I was getting treatments the whole time, and I was writing this music in between. I was going to the studio and then I would go get treatment, and then I'd go back to the studio."

The "Becky's So Hot" singer also explained how the disease impacted her singing voice. "I had to let go of this idea of a perfect vocal take or a sound that I was so attached to having prior, and I really had to dig to these depths of, what does the sound of my heart sound like?” she shared. “Because I can't operate from the way that I was before."

Fletcher also said that taking a break from touring and her musical career forced her to look inside herself. “I had to look at what was here in front of me and also wonder why I had allowed myself to get to this point, to push my body so far, to get so sick, and that it took me so long to recognize it, to see it, and to listen to it,” she said.

"It feels like I made a pact with myself and I was like, 'I will never abandon myself again,’” Fletcher continued. “If I cannot show up and have a regulated nervous system and to recognize when my body's telling me to drink water, telling me to get out in nature, whatever the needs are, the soul needs are, the heart needs are, the body needs are. I won't compromise that ever again.”

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