Grammy-winning Elvis Costello, one of the world’s most illustrious musicians working today, took to his personal website today to make a personal announcement regarding his health. Due to a surgery for a “very aggressive cancerous malignancy,” the remaining dates on his European tour have been canceled.

In a statement written to his fans, Costello wrote “Six weeks ago my specialist called me and said, ‘You should start playing the Lotto.’ He had rarely, if ever, seen such a small but very aggressive cancerous malignancy that could be defeated by a single surgery.” However, he soon discovered that recovering from such a surgery while crisscrossing Europe on a summer tour was taking a toll on his body. “The spirit has been more than willing but I have to now accept that it is going to take longer than I would have wished for me to recover my full strength. Therefore, I must reluctantly cancel all the remaining engagements of this tour,” he continued.

He refrained from sharing the specifics of his diagnosis and instead was eager to share a bit of good news: “The Imposters and I – together with several of our other friends – have made a magnificent new record of which we are truly proud. It will be issued in October, I believe. We will return at the soonest opportunity to play that music and your favourite songs that still make sense to us all.”

Costello has appeared at Jazz Fest in New Orleans and, in 2016, he announced a collaboration with Preservation Hall Jazz Band. At the time, Ben Jaffe said of Costello, “Elvis Costello has been a tremendous supporter of New Orleans and The Preservation Hall.”