Celeb News » Andy Williams Reveals He Has Bladder Cancer On Stage

All time great singer Andy Williams gave his audience and subsequently the whole music world some very sad news on Saturday night (November 5th 2011) when, performing in Missouri, he revealed that he was suffering from bladder cancer. That there was something not right with Williams wasn't in doubt; the 83 year-old had cancelled a string of dates this year due to an unspecified illness; but the confirmation that he had cancer was still a stinging one to those in attendance who'd given him a standing ovation as he made his way on stage at the Moon River Theatre in Branson.

"I do have cancer of the bladder," he admitted, according to the UK's Guardian newspaper, "[But] people with cancer are ... kicking it, and they're winning more and more every year. And I'm going to be one of them", he continued defiantly ahead of a rendition of 'Chestnuts Roasting on an Open Fire'. Putting on a brave face Williams promised to the crowd that he would live to celebrate his singing career's 75th anniversary next year, saying "I really have missed this an awful lot".

Williams is of course one of the most enduring American singers of all time, his first top 10 Us charting single, 'Canadian Sunset' was released as far back as 1956 and he went on to record 18 gold and three platinum certified albums. Ironically, perhaps his most well known track, a cover of Bob Crewe's 'Music To Watch The Girls Go By', was a relative disappointment in the US charts, reaching 34 in 1967.