Singer Justin Timberlake revealed Thursday that he has been diagnosed with Lyme disease
“Among other things, I’ve been battling some health issues, and was diagnosed with Lyme disease — which I don’t say so you feel bad for me — but to shed some light on what I’ve been up against behind the scenes,” Timberlake wrote Thursday on Instagram. “If you’ve experienced this disease or know someone who has — then you’re aware: living with this can be relentlessly debilitating, both mentally and physically.”
He continued, writing that he was “shocked” when he was first diagnosed with Lyme disease, which is transferred from ticks to humans, but it helped him understand why he was feeling a “massive amount of nerve pain” and “crazy fatigue or sickness” while he was onstage.
“I was faced with a personal decision,” the singer wrote. “Stop touring? Or, keep going and figure it out. I decided the joy that performing brings me far outweighs the fleeting stress my body was feeling. I’m so glad I kept going.”
Timberlake ended his Forget Tomorrow World Tour on Wednesday. The singer faced criticism on TikTok for some of his recent performances. In several videos taken by fans, Timberlake can be seen relying on the crowd to sing large portions of his songs, instead of singing them himself. In one video, while performing “Can’t Stop the Feeling,” Timberlake puts his microphone down after singing just the first three words of the song, only occasionally chiming back in later as the tune continues.
The TikTok account for Stereogum, a music publication, posted a mashup of clips of Timberlake not singing at his show in Transylvania, Romania, with the caption, “Go girl give us nothing.”
Timberlake didn’t disclose what stage of Lyme disease he has, but, according to the Mayo Clinic, various stages can include symptoms of tiredness, pain, joint swelling and muscle weakness.
Timberlake wrote that he was “reluctant” to share the personal news, but he wanted to be “transparent” about his struggles “so that they aren’t misinterpreted.”
He continued, saying he doesn’t know when he’ll return to the stage but thanking fans for showing up with their “signs, messages, and DIY t-shirts.”
Several celebrities have shared that they have been diagnosed with Lyme disease, including Shania Twain, who has said the disease affected her voice.
“My voice was never the same again,” Twain said in her 2022 documentary “Not Just a Girl.” “I thought I’d lost my voice forever. I thought that was it, [and] I would never, ever sing again.”
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Twain, who was diagnosed in 2003, also said in the documentary that while she was onstage, she would get dizzy and lose her balance.
“I was afraid I was going to fall off the stage,” she said. “I was having these very, very, very millisecond blackouts, but regularly, every minute or every 30 seconds.”