ELVIS COSTELLO is considering himself to be an “extremely lucky” man after an operation that removed a “small but very aggressive cancerous malignancy”.
Speaking on BBC’s The One Show, the 64-year-old musician revealed that he did not calculate enough recovery time following his operation, and as a result was forced to cancel the remaining dates on his European tour.
He was due to perform 10 dates in Manchester, Southend and Plymouth as well as Pula in Croatia, Graz and Vienna in Austria, Tysnes in Norway and Rattvik in Sweden.
The singer, real name Declan Patrick McManus, told presenters Matt Barker and Alex Jones that he “got extremely lucky wand it goes to prove that you have to keep up with your checks”.
“They did discover that there was something, shall we say a lodger, that needed to be removed from the premises,” he continued.
“I made a very coherent statement to tell people, make sure you do as I do, keep up with the checks and then you might be lucky like I am to completely take care of something.
“I had a procedure, I feel right as rain.”
Costello never revealed what form of cancer he had been diagnosed with.
After the diagnosis, the British singer-songwriter, who comes from an Irish family, urged men to "talk to their friends" if they have concerns over their health, adding: "It may save your life."
He went on: "Take very good care of your loved ones but Gentleman, do talk to you friends - you'll find you are not alone - seek your doctor's advice if you are in doubt or when it is timely and act as swiftly as you may in these matters.
"Believe me, it is better than playing roulette."
The singer also revealed recently that he would be releasing a new record in October.
