Uh oh. There has been a crushing setback for singer John Mayer. Just when things seemed to be cooking for him, with a new album and tour on the immediate horizon, the active-on-social-media guitarist took to his personal Tumblr to reveal some bad news. Mayer visited his throat doctor on Wednesday (March 7) since "something didn't feel/sound right" during rehearsals on Tuesday (March 6.) It was a bad omen that revealed a big problem.

Mayer's instincts were right to have the "feeling" checked out. Turns out the granuloma on his vocal cord had grown back where it had healed. As a result, Mayer is forced to take an indefinite break from live performing and touring. The condition could snowball, so there is no way around a hiatus or Mayer "going dark," as they say. He indicates that his silence could be very long, too.

The good news is that he will release 'Born and Raised' as planned on May 22. Fans will just have to wait a while before hearing or seeing him play the new album's tunes on the stage. Another bright side is that he is in creative mood right now and will begin writing music for his next album while he heals. That's an effective use of his down time, that's for sure.

Below is the entire text of Mayer's frank, candid and heartfelt Tumblr post.

I have no idea how to introduce this post, so I’m skipping the first paragraph.

During rehearsal on Tuesday, it came to mind that I should see my throat doctor because something didn’t feel/sound right. I went in for a visit on Wednesday and a scope of my vocal cords revealed that the granuloma has grown back where it had mostly healed. This is bad news. Because of this, I have no choice but to take an indefinite break from live performing. Though there will be a day when all of this will be behind me, it will sideline me for a longer period of time than I care to have you count down.

I want to explain this a bit more in depth than I have in the past, because I know there’s some confusion as to what this condition is; a granuloma forms and continues to snowball because it’s in a spot where the vocal cords hit together and there’s no way to really give it a chance to heal without a good stretch of time and some pretty intensive treatment. In short, it’s one giant pain in the ass.

Okay, so here’s the plan… 'Born and Raised' will be released as scheduled, but because I don’t make a very good anything-other-than-a-musician, I’m going to begin writing the next album very soon. I feel really vibrant as a writer at the moment and there’s no reason not to begin the next album project in the time I would have been touring. Somewhere in all of this is another surgery and a very long chemically-imposed period of silence, so I hope you’ll understand that I have to really pick that date carefully.

I’m pretty emotionally burnt out at the moment, but please know how hard I tried to resolve this and how disappointed I am that I can’t perform this record yet. I’m completely bummed, especially for all of you who started making plans to see a show. Nothing feels worse than having to break the stage down before the performance, and I mean nothing. I love this band you were going to hear, I love the guys and girls I work with, and the only thing that stops me from devolving into a puddle of tears is knowing that it’s a long life, and the greatest gift in the world is being able to create music no matter what the circumstances.

So these are the new circumstances, and I’ll find a way to make it mean something. That’s all you can ever do.

John

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