US rocker Meat Loaf has revealed a blood vessel on a vocal cord came close to haemorrhaging last year, the reason he cancelled a concert in New Zealand.

Speaking to the UK Express newspaper, the Bat Out of Hell hitmaker acknowledged he disappointed thousands of fans when he was forced to scrap a concert at the last minute. But he said he was extremely sick with the same condition that forced Adele to have surgery last year.

"I was in the emergency room because I had a swollen vocal cord, and they told me not to go on. This was after the same thing happened to Adele. I didn't go on. However, all of this didn't happen until five o'clock. By the time we got back, they'd already opened the doors.

"Everyone was p**sed, but we didn't know. There was a blood vessel protruding off the left vocal cord, and they were afraid it was going to really haemorrhage. There was a tiny bit of blood.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"It took me all of November and most of December to get over the swollen vocal cord. I've done so many shows where I shouldn't have gone on. The audiences mean more to me than anything."