Cody Simpson Reveals Vocal Cord Hemorrhage, Cancels Shows

Cody Simpson’s long-awaited musical comeback has hit a serious wall. The Australian singer revealed Monday that he’s been dealing with a vocal cord hemorrhage for over a month — an injury that’s left him unable to sing and forced him to cancel performances ahead of what was shaping up to be a major year in music.

“I originally thought I could keep this private but it’s come time to share what I’ve been going through,” the 29-year-old wrote in an Instagram post, accompanied by a photo of himself sitting in what appears to be a doctor’s office, its walls lined with CDs and music plaques signed by various artists. “Just over a month ago we discovered a serious hemorrhage on one of my vocal cords.”

The cause? Pure determination that backfired. Simpson explained the injury “occurred due to my overzealousness in the studio singing through a sinus infection I didn’t know I had. Assumed it was just fatigue and kept showing up to the studio until one day I could no longer sing.”

What the Injury Has Cost Him

The fallout has been significant. Simpson has been on and off vocal rest for weeks, cancelling TV and radio performances he had lined up to promote his new single “Baby Blue,” which dropped in March. He’s also had to step back from finishing the album he’s been building — what would be his first full-length record since his self-titled release in 2022.

“This has also affected my ability to complete the album and polish up the next singles,” he wrote.

His doctor has now prescribed another two weeks of complete silence, the goal being to avoid surgery — which, Simpson noted, “demands a much longer recovery process.” In a separate Instagram story, he praised his “amazing” voice doctor, someone he said he’s been seeing since he first started singing professionally.

But he’s not sitting still. “I’m back in the studio now writing strictly as a lyricist on mute with my collaborators, and hearing/writing my vocal melodies on my guitar (which I will eventually replace with my voice when I’m able to).”

“Where there’s a will, there’s a way,” he added. “I’ve been extremely up and down but am now reframing this as a realignment for the long-term good.”

A Comeback Already in Motion

The timing stings. Simpson had only just returned to music in March after spending years chasing an equally serious dream — competitive swimming. He joined the Australian swim team in 2022, competed in the 2023 World Cup, and was part of the lead-up to the 2024 Paris Olympics before ultimately not making the cut. He then signed with BMG in partnership with Range Music for his future releases, and dropped two new singles — “Baby Blue” and “When It Comes to Loving You” — on the same day in March.

“Now felt like the perfect time to return to music thanks to where pop music, and music in general, is right now,” he told People ahead of the releases. “Pop is in the best place it’s been in years and I was really excited to come back and play in the scene again.”

He’d described feeling like “a bowstring pulled back” through all those years of swimming, just waiting to get back into a studio. “So when I was finally able to get back into the studio every day it just poured out of me,” he said. “It took about a year to figure out exactly what I wanted to achieve sonically but I feel like I got there with this sound.”

Simpson first broke through in 2009 as a teenager posting covers on YouTube, releasing his debut single “iYiYi” featuring Flo Rida in 2010. He’s come a long way from that kid — through four studio albums, stints on Dancing with the Stars and The Masked Singer Australia, an elite athletic career, and now this — still showing up to the studio, guitar in hand, even when his voice won’t cooperate.

He says he plans to bring fans along for the recovery this time, rather than keeping it quiet. Given the response in his comments, they’re already there with him.