Fletcher Reveals Lyme Disease Diagnosis, Says She Has to Postpone Tour

Fletcher is sharing some news about her health.

On Wednesday, the 29-year-old singer took to social media to reveal that she has recently been diagnosed with Lyme disease after years of feeling unwell.

Next to an image of her in a hospital room with tubes running from a machine into her body, the “Girls Girls Girls” singer wrote, “dear fletch fam 🤍.” In the slides that followed, the singer opened up about her medical condition. 

“Hi Fletch fam, writing to you with an update today, as you may have noticed, I’ve been pretty quiet on socials lately and wanted to share why,” she began. “I have recently been diagnosed with Lyme Disease. I started to become increasingly ill over the last couple years and just kept pushing even though I knew there was something deeper going on. For the last few months I’ve been receiving treatments, following the doctor’s order and doing my best to learn more about the invisible illness. Lyme Disease 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 cause concern for my voice as well. 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.” 

According to the CDC, Lyme disease is a vector-borne illness that “is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected blacklegged ticks. Typical symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue, and a characteristic skin rash called erythema migrans. If left untreated, infection can spread to joints, the heart, and the nervous system.”

As a result, Fletcher — whose real name is Cari Elise Fletcher — revealed that she has to postpone her tours in the U.K., Australia and New Zealand until next year. In addition, she has to cancel her appearances in Mexico City. The “Bitter” singer shared that she was sorry that the fans affected had to learn from the venues and not hear it from her first.

Her message continued, “You all know how much I love performing and seeing you on the road and I’m truly heartbroken to let you down. I debated whether or not I wanted to speak about this publicly, but I’ve always let 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 one that you deserve. It’s not lost on me how incredibly fortunate I am to be able to take time off to rest, and take care of my voice and body.” 

Fletcher ended her message with optimism and thanked her fans for all of their “endless love and support.” 

“I am extremely grateful and I can’t wait to perform for you bigger and better…and most importantly, strong than ever next year,” she wrote. “But for now, I want to thank you for listening and thank you for all of your endless love and support. I love you all so much. Please take good care of yourselves and I’ll see you soon. All my love, Cari.” 

Fletcher is among a number of celebrities who have been public with their Lyme disease diagnosis including Justin Bieber as well as Bella Hadid, who recently gave her followers a rare look at her life with the disease.