Liam Payne, formerly of One Direction, has postponed his South American tour as he recovers from a kidney infection.
The singer announced the news on his Instagram page Friday morning, informing fans that the decision wasn’t one he’d hoped for, but at this point, he’s following strict doctor’s orders.
“This really is the last news I wanted to tell you but, basically, I’ve been a little bit unwell recently, and I ended up in the hospital with a bad kidney infection,” Payne says in a video message. “We started rehearsals and I’ve just been advised that now’s really not the right time to be out on the road, trying to recover from this.”
Payne added that he has “the best people around me” helping him to recover, and assured fans that they’d be able to get a refund on their tickets. You can watch Payne’s full statement in the video below.
“I was beyond excited to come play for you guys. To all of you who have bought tickets: I’m so sorry,” Payne noted in the caption of the post. “We’re working to re-schedule the tour as soon as we possibly can, but for now we will be refunding the tickets – so please look out for updates from your point of purchase.”
Signing off the post, Payne thanked his fans for their support and well wishes — of which there were many in the comments section — and promised he “look[s] forward to seeing you soon.”