The singer Raphael, 81, suffers from brain lymphoma, according to the medical report from the 12 de Octubre hospital (Madrid) provided by his representative office, RLM. The statement explains that the artist is already receiving specific treatment and will be discharged in the coming days, although he has suspended the concerts that were planned in America at the beginning of 2025. The artist was admitted on Tuesday, December 17 in the afternoon after suffering a stroke while filming a Christmas special The revoltand already had to cancel the classic Christmas concerts on Friday, December 20 and Saturday, December 21 at the Wizink Center, to say goodbye to the year and where he was going to put the finishing touch in Spain to his eternal tour, Tour Victoria.
His representation agency has uploaded a statement to its social media accounts announcing the cancellation of the nine concerts that Raphael had planned for early 2025 on his Victoria tour, in the United States, Dominican Republic, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico and Mexico, scheduled for February and March. The singer “will undergo specialized outpatient treatment to address a recently diagnosed neurological pathology,” for which his medical team has recommended “a long period of rest and rest,” the note maintains.
The medical report from October 12 indicates that Raphael “presents a primary brain lymphoma with two brain nodules in the left hemisphere that justify the neurological symptoms he presented a few days ago.” And he continues: “During his admission to this hospital, specific treatment for this pathology was started, which will continue on an outpatient basis. For this reason, he will hopefully be discharged in the coming days,” he says. During his hospital stay, the singer received a visit from his family.
A brain lymphoma is a type of cancer that affects the main organ of the central nervous system. The cells involved in the process are lymphocytes, which are part of the immune system and normally circulate throughout practically the entire body. For reasons that are not yet well known, some of these lymphocytes become malignant and begin to develop lymphoma in the brain, although they can also do so in the meninges – the membrane that covers it – or the spinal cord. According to the National Cancer Institute of the United States, the first manifestations of the disease are usually nausea and vomiting, headaches, confusion, double vision and seizures, among others. A weakened immune system, something that occurs with age, increases a person’s chances of developing brain lymphoma, as it does with other types of cancer. reports Oriol Güell.
There is no single treatment for the disease and the one that doctors choose will depend on several characteristics of the patient and the process itself, although the most common are chemotherapy, immunotherapy and also stem cell transplant, among others.
The RLM statement warns that the ticket holders of each canceled concert will shortly contact the buyers to manage the refund of the tickets and apologize for the cancellation “on behalf of the artist”, while thanking them for the support and affection shown. since his entry with the singer of my big night o Scandal. “With the hope of a speedy recovery, Raphael hopes to be able to resume his agenda and meet his audience again soon,” he concludes. The Spanish dates, which are scheduled to begin on April 17 in Elche (Alicante), have not yet been canceled, pending the evolution of the treatment, the agency confirms to EL PAÍS.
Raphael is one of the four artists in the world who has a uranium album for having sold more than 50 million copies throughout his career. In 2003, the singer recognized for My big night, Let’s talk about love, Whatever they say, The drummer o I am thatone of the most popular on the Spanish scene, needed a liver transplant to put an end to hepatitis B, a disease that he had suffered since he was 20 years old: “That has been the opportunity for me to continue living much better than before and to enjoy things much better than before. Something that was very dramatic became a great opportunity,” he said in an interview with EL PAÍS in November, where he resisted talking about his retirement: “What the hell do you want me to do in my house? Should I stay watching TV? Or am I going to see how Nadal plays? That’s not because he has already retired.” After more than 60 years of career, this year he released his eighty-sixth album, Yesterday… Stillrecorded in Paris, a tribute to French song and its great idols: Piaf, Aznavour, Bécaud, Brel… Among its plans for 2025 is also to premiere its new show, Raphaelísimo, whose tour begins in May.
This December, he was also awarded an honorary doctorate by the University of Jaén: “My voice has always been my best ally, allowing me to explore my limits and constantly evolve. I have never been interested in simply being a singer who sounds good, I have always tried to be a performer who moves, shakes and awakens feelings, because in music, as in life, the essential thing is not perfection, but truth. And in that search for authenticity is where the true power of interpretation lies,” he said on that occasion.