Another Rock Singer With Injured Voice

On Sept 16, 2011, the Stone Temple Pilots had to cancel their tour because their lead singer Scott Weiland was placed on voice rest due to damaged vocal cords at risk for permanent damage. Specifically, the doctors at University of Cincinnati Voice Health Center determined that he had scarring on his left vocal cord and a tremendously inflamed right vocal cord.

The left vocal cord scarring is likely from past vocal trauma that did not heal properly and is now permanently damaged whereas the right vocal cord is at risk of also becoming permanently damaged if not aggressively managed. The picture shown here is an example with inflammation involving both vocal cords. Compare this with the picture below which shows one normal vocal cord and one inflamed vocal cord.

Without further information, beyond voice rest to allow the vocal cord inflammation to resolve without further injury, treatment may also include steroids as well as reflux medication.

It seems to be a continuing trend for singers of all genres to be pushed to the point where their vocal cords get injured resulting in show cancellations and at worst, become a one-hit wonder.

Other singers THIS YEAR alone who have cancelled tours due to voice injury include Kings of Leon, Duran Duran, Adele, The Vaccines, etc

And it's not just rockers, but also opera singers.

If you are a singer and you don't have a voice coach and supportive management, you need to remedy this immediately or you risk having a career that's a one-hit wonder.

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The Vocal Problems of Professional Singers

The Washington Post on May 20, 2011 published a great article on the travails of opera singers regarding their vocal cords and the stresses placed on them (the singers and their vocal cords).

The opera singer (as well as any other professional singer) are the Olympic athletes of the voice.  As such, peak performance is mandatory in order to sustain a successful career. Just as an Olympic sprinter measures their success in milliseconds... the professional singer is judged by the most minute inflections, variances, irregularities of their voice. Never mind the back-biting and gossip.

99.9% is not good enough in this cut-throat world when anything less than 100% perfection is considered failure.

As such, the demands placed on the vocal cords are tremendous and rather than pulled hamstrings of a world-class sprinter, vocal cord swelling let alone nodules or muscle tension dysphonia can cut a career short.

Push the voice too hard... and they can get damaged, especially when vocal technique gets sacrificed to perform pieces beyond appropriate range (and even ability). Even professional opera singers have vocal instructors and coaches... a point I regularly make with amateur singers with injured vocal cords when they argue against the necessity of voice therapy and singing lessons ("I already know how to sing!").

Read the Washington Post story here.

I did want to point out that there was one error in the story...

Near the end of the story, it is stated that Giuseppe Filanoti had thyroid surgery. Although this can affect the voice, it is NOT vocal cord surgery as reported.

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The Diane Rehm Show on NPR Examines the Human Voice

Diane Rehm who hosts an NPR show of her name, suffers from a voice disorder called Spasmodic Dysphonia. On April 18, 2011, she hosted a show on vocal issues with expert guests addressing what makes a healthy voice. The experts range from physician laryngologist Dr. Nazaneen Grant to voice coaches.

Listen to the show here!

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