‘Summertime Saddness’ singer out with mystery illness

Lana Del Rey, songwriter and singer best known for radio hit  “Summertime Sadness” has been missing from social media for several weeks and has now cancelled all European tour dates due to an undisclosed illness.

According to a report from the “Irish Mirror,” Del Rey shocked fans by pulling out of an appearance this weekend just two hours before she was supposed to go on stage. Shortly thereafter, an official statement from her record label was released, stating: “For medical reasons independent of our will, the artist has been forced to cancel all promotional activities planned in Europe over the coming days.”

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No other word on the illness has been made public by Lana Del Rey’s representatives, leaving fans only to speculate. The 29-year-old songstress (who really is 29, despite other reports) is known for being a free spirit but loyal to fans, and Twitter followers of hers find it out of character for her to suddenly be absent from her European tour.

Lana’s story isn’t one depicting optimal health, however. Earlier this year she opened up about a mysterious illness on previous tours that kept her feeling sick for years at a time. The constant toll on her body took an equal toll on her mental health, and she remarked in subsequent interviews it was her fans that often kept her going.

“I’d been sick on tour for about two years with this medical anomaly that doctors couldn’t figure out,” Del Rey explained to US Weekly. “That’s a big part of my life: I just feel really sick a lot of the time and can’t figure out why.

“I’d gotten these shots in Russia, where we’d just been. It was just heavy. It’s just heavy performing for people who really care about you, and you don’t really care that much about yourself sometimes. I thought it was sad. I thought my position was sad. I thought it was sad to be in Ireland singing for people who really cared when I wasn’t sure if I did.”

Del Rey also indicated sharp criticism of her music makes her want to turn to alcohol, something she has struggled with for many years. The strain of being constantly under scrutiny, combined with always feeling sick, led her to use alcohol as a temporary escape–as it does for so many other people struggling with addiction.

“When I feel like people don’t like [my] music, and that the 10 years I spent making what I made was not for a good reason, that makes me want to drink again,” she said.

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“I’m never the star of my own show,” she spilled to The Fader. “I have a very complicated family life. I have a complicated personal life. It’s not just my life, it’s everyone else’s in this extended family unit. It’s always about someone else, even with the people I work with. I’m the quietest person on the set, generally. I’m actually the one that’s trying to keep it all together. It’s pretty weird. It’s a weird, weird world.”

It is unknown at this time if Del Rey’s absence from her current tour is the result of her long-term mystery illness or a different ailment altogether.