Florence Welch cancels festival gigs after injuring her voice

Chart star Florence Welch has cancelled a pair of festival gigs to avoid permanently damaging her voice.

Florence Welch cancels festival gigs after injuring her voice
Florence Welch is in line to top the singles chart with Spectrum (Call My Name) on Sunday according to midweek figures from the Official Charts Company Credit: Photo: Getty Images

The lead singer of Florence + The Machine has suffered a ''vocal injury'' after she felt something ''snap''.

She apologised to fans for the cancellation of the shows in Spain and Portugal.

The redheaded star said: ''I've sustained a vocal injury and been told I cannot sing for a week - seriously I felt something snap, it was very frightening.

''Unfortunately this means I will not be able to perform at Benicassim and Optimus Alive festival this weekend.

''I'm so sorry to all the fans, I was desperate to still perform, but was told without question not to, so as not to do permanent damage.''

Her vocal problem comes less than a year after fellow chart star Adele was forced to cancel a number of shows and then had to undergo surgery after a vocal cord haemorrhage.

Welch is in line to top the singles chart with Spectrum (Call My Name) on Sunday according to midweek figures from the Official Charts Company.