Florence Welch took to Instagram to reveal the reason her band, Florence + The Machine, had pulled out of several festival appearances scheduled for this weekend. She explained that she had undergone emergency surgery, a surgery that apparently saved her life.

"I’m so sorry that I had to cancel the last couple of shows," she began the post, apologising to her fans. "I had to have emergency surgery for reasons I don’t really feel strong enough to go into yet, but it saved my life."

She reassured fans that she'd be back for Florence + The Machine's upcoming shows in Lisbon and Malaga, though perhaps not at 100% capacity. "Suffice to say I wish the songs were less accurate in their predictions. But creativity is a way of coping, mythology is a way of making sense. And the dark fairytale of Dance Fever, with all its strange prophecies, will provide me with much-needed strength and catharsis right now.”

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The band was set to perform at festivals Zurich Openair and France's Rock en Seine this weekend but told fans they had to pull out of the performances, citing the advice of medical professionals. The group also cancelled a series of tour dates last year, when Welch broke her foot and was told she could not perform in order to prevent further damage.

Florence + The Machine have been touring their most recent album Dance Fever, which released this past April. They played a series of shows across Ireland in June, including shows at Malahide Castle in Dublin, Cork's Musgrave Park and Belfast’s Ormeau Park with support from Nell Mescal.