On August 29 he announced that he would cancel three concerts following advice from his doctors.
And on Tuesday Salvador Sobral announced that he will extend the break by going on professional hiatus and cancelling all performances so that he can focus fully on his recovery.
His announcement came in a YouTube video entitled “Hello, Até já” (Hello, See you soon).
“It is no longer a secret to anyone that my health is fragile,” he says, seated at a piano. “I have a problem. Unfortunately, the time has come to give my body to science and consequently to remove myself from the life of concerts and music in general. Get out a bit of this world of civilians and go to another, where surely this problem will be solved. Unfortunately, I do not know how long it will take.”
“I’ll be back soon — how soon I do not not know.”
Prior to departing, he will gift his fans a farewell concert with free admission. It will take place this Friday — September 8 — at the Cascais International Fair in the gardens of the Estoril Casino.
“It will be beautiful and special. A temporary farewell, shall we say.”
Salvador responds to tabloid press
The Eurovision 2017 winner also asked that the press give him room to breathe and took a dig at them for fuelling wild rumours about his medical condition.
“This request, let’s face it, goes more to those so-called junk media, which says I have three months to live. It seems like I’ve read it for over three months.”
“I hope to see you soon and everything will go well,” he said before closing the video with a portion of The Beatles hit “Hello, Goodbye”.
Salvador’s decision to go on hiatus follows the life-changing events of May 2017, when the jazz singer was thrust into the international spotlight after winning the Eurovision Song Contest — and by one of the biggest margins in history.
Since then the “Amar pelos dois” singer has been busy touring Portugal, releasing new music and raising funds for disaster relief efforts.
In June he donated the proceeds of his CD sales to the municipality of Pedrógão Grande, which recently endured tragic wildfires that killed more than 60 people and plunged Portugal into a state of national mourning.
And he followed that up by serving as the headline act at the “Juntos Por Todos” (Together for Everyone) relief concert inside Lisbon’s MEO Arena.
Salvador had the honour of closing the show, which featured 25 artists and raised more than 1.15 million euros for the people of Pedrógão Grande.
He’s also selected one composer who will compete in Festival da Canção 2018 — Portugal’s national selection for Eurovision early next year.
We wish Salvador all the best as he turns his attention fully to his medical treatment. We look forward to seeing him healthier and better than ever in the months ahead.
Read more Portugal Eurovision news
Just to put the record straight, days before his anouncement, the pink press reported that he had only three months to live, which he said is a lie. That is why he bashed the press and in my view rightly so. The guy is seriously ill so cut him some slack, guys!
Your comment is the living proof that fast food music ingers your brain.
Your comments make people hate Salvador and Portugal. Stop it already, if you don’t want to harm your country’s image.
Yeah right, as if my comments were the most influential thing in the world. People that hate Salvador or Portugal, which is a (loud) minority, do it just because they want it and not because of my comments. Everybody is free to say bad things about Salvador and I am as much free to defend him.
Even if your comment doesn’t have an impact on your countries reputation it’s really unnecessary. I don’t hate Salvador’s music but his fanbase are really testing my patience. I listen to the music I like even if it is “fast food” please please please don’t expect me to care about your judgement of me
No I don’t expect that, because I don’t care what music you listen to. I wonder though if you are not bothered, why would you reply?
Lindsey, I’m portuguese and i agree with you 100%. But please dont think we’re all like that. I Love fast food music and his fanbase annoys me as well. They’re super offensive. That’s why i want a good fast food artist to win festival da cançao.
Try having a serious illness and having journalists itch to release your obituary for profits, and see if you wouldn’t feel like calling them junk media.
It’s crazy how often we read news about Salvador’s health. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t say it’s not important. But I’m tired of reading news about his health all the time.
The media shouldn’t be so mean and give him a break. He has a health issue, wishes for a recovery, period. Neither what is it, nor how serious it is or how long he will live. This is nonsense.
I wish him quick recovery.
We all want everyone to be well!
What does he have?
Hope he’s OK.
He has a heart problem…I don’t know for sure what it is, but according to the media it’s a heart failure
I am sending big waves of positive energy to Salvador. I am sure this phase will pass and you will come out strong and more beautiful than ever
Wishing him all the best in this difficult time and a hoping for a Full recovery soon! All the best, Salvador!
he gon die
Salvador’s not gonna die, Jono. You’re being ridiculous!
Reading a lot of those “junk media”, are we?
I hope Salvador will be fine, but junk media was right so far. All you know about Salvador’s health, you know from junk media, not from Sobral family. Maybe is just hernia after all, you don’t know.
I know it’s strange what I say, and off topic, but now we know ”Amar pelos dois” is the winner, and looking back, I think the female version would’ve been Elodie – ”Tutta colpa mia” from Sanremo. Don’t you think? Of course many adore Francesco Gabbani, but it was a very good year for Sanremo, many songs were very good.
Oh yes, now that you said it, I see it as well. But I think they may have cancelled each other out
Best wishes for speedy recovery!
Sending him lots of love and strength! I hope all goes well so he may come back stronger than ever!
Meu querido Salvador, you are a very brave man and we are all by your side. Wishes for a super quick recovery because we desperately need artists like you. Much love from Greece.
Anyone needs more proof? I am praying for him.
Where’s that romanian troll who claimed it was all a lie and salvador’s only ilness was in his head?
L’oiseau, relax.
Dear Theo, moon, Cassandra and other yodelly nicknames you use. I think you need to relax and overcome your yodel hangover. Your beloved Ilinca seems to do a better job than you!
And no, I did not make that comment…
I also had tickets for one of the upcoming concerts :/ but I wish Salvador the best in everything and come back stronger than ever!!
Wishing him the best on everything! Be strong Salvador!!
Wish him health, but he must understand that the media talks. The only way to stop fake rumors is to speak yourself first. This is how it works when you are celebrity. The ”junk media” didn’t wanted to harm him.
“This is how it is” but it’s not how it’s supposed to be (at least in my country even the trashiest of rags has their limits). The media” is not a thoughtless machine, the media is made of people who make choices. Some of them choose integrity. Some others choose to put not only a man, but his whole family (including his sister who’s also in the public eye) in unnecessary distress at a sensitive time to sell a couple more rags or get a couple more clicks; in which case they need to reconsider their line of work. This… Read more »
I’m betting we won’t see him perform at Eurovision 2018 at all. I won’t be surprised if he makes a simple appearance, thanking the voters for the win, and then just disappearing.
Luisa Sobral will probably attend and perform in his place again
He looks very fragile. I didnt realize how thin he was. I hope things get better. I still can’t believe people thought he made the whole thing up for attention or as a ploy to win.
The more stupid thing is that he never spoke about his illness in any interview during Eurovision…He didn’t even mention he had one. Still there’s people that believed in that :\
Totally agree!!! He never said he’s sick (only the hernia thing, but not the heart) still his fans accuse those who have doubted about his heart condition. His fans are crazy, they believed in something Salvador never said, they believed in junk media, and now they act like junk media is the bad guy.
I pray for his health recovery, no matter how long it takes — just so those problems will be hopefully behind him, and he can continue to grace us with his lovely music and unique voice — the WORLD needs the opportunity to hear Salvador!
“até já” doesn’t mean a bye at all, it means bye but see you soon
I bought a ticket for his canceled concert, I hope see him for the next time and strong!
Don’t feel pressure of your fans, Salvador, we know that your health is priority!
The article mentioned that Salvador Sobral won Eurovision by the biggest margin in history but this isn’t true because Alexander Rybak won by 169 points while Salvador Sobral’s margin is 143 points.
Whats the point of your comment?? Whatever
Força Salvador, força Luísa, força família Sobral.
I read some headlines on Twitter, and it’s disgusting how some “media” are so willing to put profits or clicks before respect and humanity.
I trust he’ll be back soon and better than ever so he can sing and tour around the world as he and his fans want.
let’s hope so! sending him so many positive vibes!