Highlights

• Adele's health issues have led to cancellations, raising concerns about her ability to tour in the future as fans worry about her well-being.
• Weight loss did not cause Adele's back problems and actually helped with her sciatica. Her health issues may be something she deals with long-term.
• Despite some issues, Adele's vocal cords appear to be in good shape, but her ongoing battle with sciatica may require more aggressive treatment.

Adele has a voice that transcends generations, as seen by the millions of Spotify downloads Adele continues to accumulate. Because of this, concert dates in Las Vegas during Adele's residency have been sold out, with aftermarket tickets selling for upwards of $1,000 per ticket. Fans cannot get enough of Adele, and the singer loved it; she extended her residency once she recovered from COVID, enjoying every moment in Sin City.

Unfortunately, some of those dates had to be canceled due to Adele's health. But this is not the first time that Adele has had issues that have kept her from performing her music. Fans have begun to wonder if the conditions that Adele suffers from will keep her from being able to successfully tour again or if the days of traveling from city to city and country to country are over for Adele.

Here is the scary truth behind Adele's health issues over the years.

Adele Canceled Shows Due To Her Health

Adele has had to cancel shows over the years due to vocal cord and back problems

Adele released her first album, 19. This introduction to British fans was warmly received, with many in awe of the strong voice that Adele had. As such, in 2011, Adele's sophomore album, 21, was released globally. It, too, received critical acclaim.

Shortly after the album was released, however, Adele first alerted fans to the fact that she had health issues brewing. In this instance, Adele's vocal cords had a polyp on them. The only way to remove the polyp was via surgery that, if not done properly, would have ended Adele's career.

"Based on the advice of her doctor and voice therapist in the United Kingdom, Adele came to Boston to consult and undergo corrective voice surgery," a statement regarding Adele's condition read.

Adele followed up on the statement, writing via social media, "If I continue to pick up everything before I have properly conquered these problems and nipped them in the bud, I will be totally and utterly f****d. Singing is literally my life, it's my hobby, my love, my freedom, and now my job."

The surgery proved to be successful, and before long, Adele was singing again.

However, several years and tour dates later, Adele had damaged her vocal cords. In 2017, Adele had to cancel concert dates in London.

After 2017, it appeared that the vocal cords were stronger than ever. Adele took on a Las Vegas residency. But when she and her crew contracted COVID, it had to be postponed. Finally, on November 22, 2022, the residency went forward and fans could not have been more thrilled.

Another snag occurred in August 2023 when Adele collapsed and was unable to get up after suffering from a severe case of sciatica. The pain was so immense that dates during her residency had to be pushed to the end of her time in Las Vegas.

For the shows that Adele did do, she was seen either sitting during her performances or moving slowly across the stage because of the pain.

"I have a wobble these days because I have really bad sciatica," Adele told the audience.

While some of these conditions have looked to be completely healed, others appear to be chronic. This has led some fans to wonder if Adele's weight loss had anything to do with her health scares.

Did Adele's Weight Loss Cause Health Problems?

Adele's weight loss has helped her sciatica versus causing her more pain

Over the course of two years, Adele decided to become the healthiest version of herself. After shutting down rumors that plastic surgery was used to lose weight, Adele revealed that exercising several times per day and eating everything in moderation was the key to eventually losing 100 pounds. It is also around this time that Adele began to open up about her sciatica.

However, the weight loss did not contribute to Adele's back issues. If anything, losing weight helped; it was strictly a coincidence that fans learned about Adele's condition in conjunction with her weight loss.

"I'm more agile because I can now move more, because of my back. I got my core strong," Adele explained. "I slipped my first disc when I was 15 from sneezing. I was in bed and I sneezed and my fifth one flew out. In January, I slipped my sixth one, my L6. And then where I had a C‑section, my core was useless."

Adele went on to say, "Where I got my tummy strong, down at the bottom, which I never had before, my back don't play up as much. It means I can do more, I can run around with my kid a little bit more."

Because Adele has done just about all she can for her sciatica, short of having surgery, it appears it may be a condition she has to deal with for the rest of her life.

Adele May Always Have To Deal With Her Health Issues

Adele's sciatica may prove to be a chronic condition

Because Adele's issues with her vocal cords appear to have been fixed, unless she does not rest them as advised, Adele's voice does not have any permanent damage done. The same, however, cannot be said about her back. The sciatica that Adele suffers from may just last her entire life.

In order to help with the symptoms of sciatica, "milder cases of sciatica usually get better with self-treatment." As such, things like ice, heat, OTC medications, and stretching can help.

However, it does not appear that Adele's symptoms are mild. As a result, more aggressive treatments may be needed. Those treatments include:

• Prescription medication
• Physical therapy
• Spinal injections
• Acupuncture
• Chiropractic care

When all of these therapies have been tried and no relief is found, then back surgery may be required.

For now, the treatment that Adele has been receiving has been enough to get her through her residency. Whether they will allow her to continue to tour remains to be seen.