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Teyana Taylor revealed she has to undergo surgery for a growth on her vocal cord.
On Wednesday, August 6, the “Gonna Love Me” singer posted on her Instagram Stories and opened up about the recent health scare and how she needs to take time away from work to heal.
“I’ve been quietly dealing with some vocal challenges for a while now. And after a lot of back and forth with my doctors, I’ve been told I need vocal surgery immediately,” she wrote. “They found a noncancerous growth on one of my cords that’s been messing with my voice and causing real discomfort. Thankfully, we caught it & it’s treatable — but it does mean I need to pause and give myself time to fully heal.”
Taylor, 31, said that it “breaks my heart” that she has to step back from her upcoming engagements, including an appearance on Michelle Obama’s podcast on Martha’s Vineyard. The musician and actress said that she’s frustrated because she “poured so much of myself into this next chapter.”
However, she assured that her album and its accompanying short film, Escape Room, is still releasing August 22.
“Just as I was getting ready to finally share this with you, life handed me my own unexpected ‘escape room’ — one I didn’t ask for, but one I now have to find my way out of with patience, rest and faith,” Taylor said.
“This moment hurts,” she added. “I wanted to give you everything, the full vision. But please know I put my whole heart into this music, this film, this rollout. And when I return, it’ll be with even more fire, more purpose and the best version of me.
“Thank you for rocking with me through it all,” she ended her post. “For the grace, the love and the space to heal. I can’t wait to be on the other side of this — stronger, softer and singing again.”
Teyana Taylor/Instagram
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This isn’t the first time Taylor has dealt with a health scare.
In 2021, the singer underwent emergency surgery in Miami after finding lumps in her breasts.
In an episode of her and ex-husband Iman Shumpert’s reality series, We Got Love Teyana & Iman, the artist’s physician, Dr. Altman, performed a biopsy on her “dense” breast tissue and sent the samples out to pathology. The results came back fine — even after what her doctor described as being a “complicated” procedure.
“I just want this to be the last time I go through this,” Taylor explained during the episode. “Cancer runs through my family, so it’s a scary thing both for me and Iman.”
“My number one priority is to hurry up and get back home, but I know I need to take care of what I need to take care of as well,” she said at the time.
Michael Buckner/Variety via Getty
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After some time recovering, Taylor looked back on the operation, noting that it was worth undergoing the procedure in the long haul.
“I accept every single body scar, everything that comes with mommy-hood, but the changes — physically, mentally, emotionally, it’s crazy,” she said. “As mommies, we really are super-women.”
“It’s been a rough year for me, but I feel like I, like, overcame it and I did a great job of balancing everything, trying to be mommy, trying to be wife, trying to be entrepreneur and everything else I have going on,” added Taylor. “I just want to enjoy this moment and try not to think of the negative.”
