Richie Kotzen vocal cord haemorrhage shock

Former Poison star Richie Kotzen has cancelled a number of shows after suffering a vocal cord haemorrhage.

The rocker struggled through a recent concert in San Juan Capistrano, California and subsequently saw a doctor, who discovered a major throat problem and ordered him to undertake complete vocal rest for the next three weeks.

Kotzen, 42, has now scrapped all his shows this month (Apr12), including gigs in New York and Baltimore in Maryland.

He says in a statement, "Since I came back from (touring in) Europe I have been struggling with my voice. Last Saturday's gig in San Juan Cap (sic) was a vocal disaster. I thought it was fatigue from the brutal schedule in Europe. However, the voice is getting worse... I went to my doctor in Beverly Hills... I was concerned I may have nodes. 16 years ago I had nodes... twice... two separate surgeries... He looked at me and it is very very bad news... My left vocal cord is haemorrhaged, bruised, and bleeding. The bottom line is I need to be on total voice rest for the next three weeks. This means no singing and limited talking... He explained that by trying to sing in this condition I would likely ruin my voice for good. I am very sorry but I must cancel all shows for April.

"The doctor assured me that if I rest and follow his advice my voice will return back to normal within three weeks from now... Sorry for this bad news."