Originally, doctors had recommended he have the surgery in March of 2013, but he refused, citing the upcoming obligations to promote 2013 album True. "Since my operation, I'd just been going and going," the man born Tim Bergling said. "I was dropping weight. I needed to take a break."

He added that even after the surgery, despite taking a month off from doing much in the public eye, he didn't rest like he probably should have. "I took a month off, but it wasn't really a month off," he said. "I was in the studio 12 hours a day, and then went right back to touring. It's hard to say no in this industry. You want to play everything and be everywhere."