Although she was scheduled to perform at Afropunk Fest in South Africa, Solange Knowles has announced that she’ll instead be taking the rest of the year off to focus on her health, revealing to fans that she’s been struggling with an illness for most of 2017.
In an Instagram post on Wednesday, the singer used a lengthy caption to explain to fans that she, along with her doctors, had decided it wouldn’t be healthy for her to take such a long flight and perform immediately after due to an autonomic disorder she’s been battling for the last five months.
“The past five months I have been quietly treating, and working through an Autonomic Disorder,” she wrote in the post. “It’s been a journey that hasn’t been easy on me…Sometimes I feel cool, and other times not so cool at all. It’s a complicated diagnoses, and I’m still learning so much myself.”
While Solange didn’t reveal the exact type of disorder she’s currently being treated for, autonomic disorders result in the breakdown of the autonomic nervous system, which controls many of the body’s involuntary functions such as heart rate, body temperature and blood pressure.
Solange went on to apologize to fans and reassure her South African fans that she’d be back soon once she was feeling better. “I can’t put into words how saddened and sorry I am that I am unable to perform for you guys this NYE, there is simply no other place I wanted to be than there with my family to bring in 2018 with you…….but I give you my ABSOLUTE WORD I will come back with AfroPunk and deliver this performance…..as it is so extremely important to me to connect with the people who have so closely inspired me in so many ways,” she said.
As Entertainment Weekly reports, Solange has been forced to cancel two other concerts this year, including her performance at Florida State University’s homecoming concert, which, at the time, she said was due to a “medical condition.”
She’s far from alone though — other celebrities including Lady Gaga and Selena Gomez have been forced to take time off from performances and appearances in the last year due to their own battles with chronic illness. We’re glad Solange recognizes there’s nothing wrong with prioritizing your self care (especially since she wrote a song about it!) and we hope she makes a speedy recovery.