Sheryl Crow underwent surgery for breast cancer earlier this week and the prognosis for a full recovery is excellent, the singer’s publicist reported.
Crow had the surgery in Los Angeles on Wednesday and is recovering without complications, Dave Tomberlin, her publicist, said on Friday.
”Her doctors think her prognosis is excellent,” said Tomberlin.
In a statement posted on her website, Crow said she will have to postpone a North American concert tour that had been scheduled to begin in March. She said she hopes to reschedule the dates as soon as possible.
”Approximately one in seven American women will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime and more than two million Americans are living with breast cancer today,” Crow said. ”I am joining the more than 200 000 women who will be diagnosed with breast cancer this year.”
Crow called the surgery ”minimally invasive” and said she will be undergoing radiation treatment as a precaution. She said she benefited from early detection, and urged other women to have themselves checked.
”More than 10-million Americans are living with cancer, and they demonstrate the ever-increasing possibility of living beyond cancer,” Crow said. ”I am inspired by the brave women who have faced this battle before me and grateful for the support of family and friends.”
Tomberlin said he did not know when Crow was diagnosed.
Crow’s former fiancé, cycling champion Lance Armstrong, said in a statement released Friday night that he was devastated to learn the news.
”Once again I’m reminded of just how pervasive this illness is, as it has now touched someone I love deeply,” said Armstrong, who is a survivor of testicular cancer.
”Based on my contact in recent days with Sheryl, her doctor and her family, I am confident that she will have a full and complete recovery and the world will be a better place for it,” said Armstrong, who asked that Crow’s fans keep her ”in your thoughts and prayers”.
On her website, Crow urged people with questions about cancer to contact the Live Strong Survivor Care group that Armstrong founded.
Crow (44) and Armstrong (34) declared earlier this month that they were splitting up. They had announced their engagement in September. It would have been the Grammy-winning rock star’s first marriage and the second for the seven-time Tour de France winner.
Crow has called Armstrong the inspiration for her last album, Wildflower, which was released in September and nominated for three Grammys, including best pop vocal album.
The singer-songwriter and guitarist was raised in the small town of Kennett, Missouri, where she sang in the local choir. She is best known for such hit songs as Soak Up the Sun and All I Want to Do.
After working as a music teacher and back-up singer, including a stint with Michael Jackson, she broke through with the 1993 multi-platinum recording Tuesday Night Music Club. — Sapa-AP