Florence Welch has opened up for the first time about a heartbreaking experience that changed her life forever. The Florence and the Machine singer revealed that she suffered an ectopic pregnancy that nearly cost her life. In a deeply emotional conversation with The Guardian, she spoke about how the traumatic event forced her to cancel several live shows back in 2023.
At the time, Florence had only told fans that she needed emergency surgery, without going into details. Now, she’s shared that she had been expecting her first child with her on-and-off musician boyfriend. She admitted that the news of her pregnancy came as a shock but soon felt magical to her. Sadly, things took a tragic turn very early on. She revealed, “I had an ectopic pregnancy, on stage.”
Florence recalled feeling confused and scared because it was her first pregnancy and first miscarriage. She said she thought what she was experiencing was something normal that many women go through. But the situation quickly became life-threatening. She described how she was performing while something inside her felt terribly wrong. Before one of her shows, she began to bleed and rushed to see a doctor.
“I felt this thing take over, the thing that’s always there, the safe space of performance,” she said. “I had a Coke can’s worth of blood in my abdomen.” Doctors immediately performed emergency surgery, but they were unable to save one of her fallopian tubes. Florence admitted that she had another concert scheduled shortly after but realised how close she had come to tragedy. “If I’d got on that plane, I’d have come off on a stretcher. Or worse,” she shared.
Back in 2023, Florence had released a short statement explaining the sudden show cancellations. At the time, she wrote, “I’m so sorry that I had to cancel the last couple of shows. My feet are fine. I had to have emergency surgery for reasons I don’t really feel strong enough to go into yet, but it saved my life.” She promised her fans she would return to finish the Dance Fever tour and added that her art often helps her process pain, writing, “Creativity is a way of coping, mythology is a way of making sense.”
An ectopic pregnancy is a rare but dangerous medical condition that happens when a fertilised egg implants outside the womb, most commonly in a fallopian tube. According to the NHS, it affects around one in every 80 to 90 pregnancies. Unfortunately, it can never result in a viable pregnancy and always requires medical treatment or surgery to prevent serious complications.
Florence’s story sheds light on a painful and often misunderstood experience that many women go through in silence. Her honesty and vulnerability have already inspired many fans, showing once again how she continues to find strength in truth and art even through her darkest moments.
