TORONTO — Canadian experimental pop performer Allie X says she’s cancelling her North American tour as a chronic and painful autoimmune illness leaves her bedridden.
The singer-songwriter turned to her Instagram account on Monday to share a message with fans explaining that she’s sicker than she’s been in two decades and unable to move.
She says that’s left her with no choice but to cancel more than 20 upcoming concert dates — including stops in Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal that were slated for April — and refund tickets.
The 36-year-old performer, born Alexandra Hughes, recently opened up about the diagnosis she received as a teenager, and how the experience inspired her 2020 album “Cape God.”
She says sometimes her body stops working and all she can do is “lie still, breathe through the pain and wait the weeks or months it takes to pass until I can work my limp up to a run again.”
After growing up in the Toronto area, Hughes pursued an acting and singing career, which culminated in the creation of the Allie X alter ego. Her debut single “Catch” reached No. 55 on the Billboard Canadian Hot 100.
She followed that up with a number of concept albums, songwriting work with artists that include BTS and Troye Sivan and a recent appearance as a guest judge on “Canada’s Drag Race.”
“I have always had such big dreams and such visions,” she wrote in her Instagram post, accompanied by a photo which appeared to show her in a hospital bed.
“I’m not going to be able to give them up, even though I’m far from an idea candidate for a pop singer.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 28, 2022.
