Frank Ocean’s trip down under was a short one. The Odd Future crooner was forced to cancel his sold-out Australian tour after struggling through vocal problems during his kick-off show at Melbourne’s Festival Hall on Thursday night.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, doctors ordered Ocean to rest his voice after discovering a tear in one of the singer’s vocal chords. Ocean tried to soldier on through the Melbourne date, but was forced to cancel the second date scheduled for Friday night (July 26) as well as an appearance at Sunday’s Splendour in the Grass festival and two shows next week at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion.
Local reports noted that the Grammy-winning singer was The Grammy winner was noticeably off-key during the Melbourne show. “I’m sick … I don’t know if you care,” he said to the audience during a performance of “Forrest Gump.”
In a statement, promoter Live Nation said, “After last night’s concert … it was necessary to seek medical advice due to vocal issues Frank Ocean experienced during the show. It has subsequently been confirmed that Frank has suffered a small tear to one of his vocal cords and has received medical advice that he must rest his voice.”
The mini Australian tour was organized around the Splendour date and that show’s organizers also expressed their dismay at the cancelation. “With Splendour already in full swing, this is devastating news for the event and will be for many of our patrons,” read a statement from a spokesperson.
Ocean recently unveiled three new songs at a tour date in Munich, Germany, which might be headed for his in-the-works follow-up to Channel Orange.
Ocean is slated to perform alongside James Blake, Drake and some other special guests during Drizzy’s annual OVO Fest in Toronto on August 4 at the Molson Canadian Amphitheatre. MTV News was unable to reach a spokesperson for Ocean at press time for details about the vocal chord issue and whether it will impact his OVO appearance.
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