Adele recently revealed that she collapsed on the floor backstage during her Las Vegas residency following a flare-up of her sciatica. The singer said a member of her production team found her unable to move.
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“They picked my whole body up off the floor,” shared Adele with the audience attending her “Weekends with Adele” residency at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace in Vegas. “I am going to sit down and rest my sciatica.”
The 35-year-old singer first revealed her condition in 2021 and that she has been dealing with it since the age of 15. “I slipped my first disc when I was 15 from sneezing,” said Adele. “I was in bed, and I sneezed, and my fifth one flew out. In January, I slipped my sixth one, my L6. And then where I had a C‑section, my core was useless.”
She added, “I’ve been in pain with my back for like, half of my life, really. It flares up, normally due to stress or from a stupid bit of posture. But where I got my tummy strong, down at the bottom, which I never had before, my back don’t play up as much. It means I can do more. I can run around with my kid a little bit more.”
Sciatica impacts 10 to 40 percent of people in some form during their lifetime, according to the National Institutes of Health. The debilitating condition occurs when there is irritation, inflammation, pinching, or compression of one or more nerves that can cause extreme pain running down the lower back and through the legs.
Earlier in the year, Adele was candid with fans about how the chronic pain has impacted her ability to move on stage. During a New Year’s Eve 2022 show, Adele showed difficulty walking across the stage after throwing shooting merchandise out of a T-shirt cannon into the crowd.
“I have to waddle these days as I have really bad sciatica,” she told the crowd. During another show in February, Adele shared that she had a disintegrated disc in her spine. “Is anyone else kind of my age starting [to get] bad knees?” she asked. “I have got really bad sciatica in my left leg and my L5 disc is not fucking there anymore. It’s worn away.”
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Nerves of the L5 vertebra, according to the Cleveland Clinic, give sensation to the outer side of the lower leg and the upper part of your foot, along with the space between the first and second toe. If the L5 nerve is compressed, it can lead to sciatica and chronic pain, weakness, and numbness in the affected areas.
After a successful run from November 2022 through March 2023, Adele’s residency was extended with additional dates from June 16, 2023, through November 4, 2023.
Reserve your spot for an incredible musical journey! Get your tickets early for Adele’s Las Vegas Residency before they’re sold out.
Photo: Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images for Adele
