Brit Award-winner Sam Fender has pulled out of Glastonbury in a shock decision which will massively disappoint the Geordie's fans.
The North Shields talent announced the news on Twitter on Wednesday evening, saying he is "absolutely gutted" at having to miss out on playing the world-famous music festival where he was due to take to the John Peel Stage on Friday.
In a touching message to his 40,000-plus followers, he apologised for the cancellation which he said is due to doctors' orders as he is still recovering from illness. And this is ruling out other summer dates too, with just a day's notice for those with tickets to see him in concert at the SWX in Bristol this Thursday night.
Fender, who has suffered vocal chords problems already this summer, wrote: "Absolutely gutted to share that I'll not be able to perform at Glastonbury this weekend.
"It's always been a dream to play at Worthy Farm and I wouldn't miss it for the world but the docs have told me I need longer to recover from illness."
He added: "Hopefully we'll get a chance to return next year."
The 24-year-old singer-songwriter's career has been on a steady rise ever since his his Brit Award win with appearances on American TV; a modelling campaign for Topman and a sell-out in record time of his massive homecoming gig at Mouth of the Tyne festival where he is due to headline on July 11.
While Fender made no mention of the local gig in his tweet, he said that he has also had to pull the plug on other festivals, including Eurockeennes in France on July 4; Down The Rabbit Hole in Belgium on July 5 and Highnam in Gloucester on July 6.
He said: "Sadly our performances at Les Eurockeennes, Down The Rabbit Hole and Barn on the Farm festivals next week are also cancelled.
"Massive apologies to all of you, especially those in Bristol tomorrow, your tickets will be valid for another rescheduled show on August 9 or you can get a refund."
The Bristol date is itself a rescheduled gig following a cancellation of an original date in May, again due to illness, when Fender explained that his vocal chords were "in bad shape" and, despite his efforts to battle through, doctors had ordered "a couple of week’s vocal rest".
He signed off Wednesday's tweet saying: "Massive love to you all and thank you for your understanding" before adding: "On a slight positive, we have some new music coming out next week."
For more information on the Glastonbury line-up and stages see this guide .
