R&B star R. Kelly has been hospitalized after emergency throat surgery in Chicago, forcing him to give up performing for an unknown period while he recuperates, the singer's spokesman said Wednesday.
Kelly, 44, had complained of throat pain and was rushed on Tuesday to Northwestern Memorial Hospital, where surgeons the same day drained an abscess on one of his tonsils, spokesman Allan Mayer said.
The Chicago native will be "laid up indefinitely" as he heals, he said.
Last year, the self-proclaimed Pied Piper of R&B released a critically acclaimed retro-soul album, titled "Love Letter," and recently completed the U.S. leg of a worldwide tour. It isn't clear when Kelly might be well enough to resume doing concerts again, Mayer said.
Kelly alluded to discomfort in his throat last week in a tweet, which was also posted on his official website, saying optimistically, "I feel like my throat is coming back. I've been in bed sweating like crazy."
Kelly won a Grammy in 1997 for his gospel-tinged "I Believe I Can Fly," and is also known for his musical melodrama "Trapped in the Closet," a multipart saga about an ever-expanding cast of characters.
By Marcus Williams, BDO Staff Writer
20 Jul 2011 , Copyright © 2005-2011, BlackDoctor.org. All rights reserved.
