Sam Fender has said he feared he would never sing again after suffering a vocal cord haemorrhage.
The Hypersonic Missiles singer opened up about the "terrifying" experience during an episode of the Hide and Speak podcast which is hosted by North-East musician Matt Saxon.
Sam recalled the immense pain he felt during his performance at BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend in Middlesbrough in 2019 and said it felt like being stabbed in the throat.
"I haemorrhaged a vocal cord and that was terrifying. It was bleeding, it was proper rank, I saw the camera [when it] went down my throat," he said.
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"I did that gig and my voice...it was like glass, like someone was stabbing us in the throat when I was trying to sing 'Hypersonic Missiles', which is a high song."
He added: "It was a nightmare. I came off stage, I couldn't talk."
The 28-year-old Brit Award winner feared the injury was "a nail in the coffin" for his career and that he would never sing again.
After seeing a doctor, the Geordie rocker was told he had suffered the haemorrhage and also had a polyp on his vocal cords.
"I thought 'f***, this is me done," he told Matt.
Luckily, he didn't need surgery but was forced to completely stop talking for an entire month.
"I literally shut the f*** up for a month, I had locked myself away. Full silence for a month in my mum's flat and just literally switched off and played video games," said Sam.
"It was depressing as hell because I thought I wasn't going to sing again."
After a month, Sam said his voice started to come back but he initially struggled to hit high notes due to a lack of muscle strength.
It took half a year and a lot of rehabilitation before doctors told him the good news that there wasn't any permanent damage.
"My vocal cords miraculously healed. I've been lucky, really," said Sam.
"I never ever had to do the surgery, I healed naturally and now my voice is stronger than ever."
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