In a message posted to his Facebook page, George told fans, "Due to serious issues with my throat I have been forced to cancel both the US and British tour with Culture Club."

He said that he's been having problems with his voice for a few months, and at his manager's suggestion, he went to see a "top throat doctor" in Los Angeles.

"I have a polyp on one of my vocal chords which has hemorrhaged and one of my vocal chords is unusually enlarged and won't close properly when I sing," he said in an all-caps message to his fans.

He said that his doctors have advised him that going on tour might cause irreparable damage: "It's a risk I just cannot take."