The ailing singer hands in another sick note after being taken ill in Peru.

Morrissey has called off his entire South American tour following a bout of food poisoning, reports the Guardian. Multiple reports in Peru suggest the singer flew back to England on the eve of the tour when he and his entourage were taken ill after eating at a restaurant in Lima.

The 14 gigs scheduled in Peru, Chile, Argentina and Brazil have all apparently been postponed, though no new dates have been announced.

Rodrigo Perez, Morrissey’s Chilean concert promoter, told Radio Cooperativa that Morrissey and his crew had eaten “at a restaurant that we had not recommended, with regrettable consequences.”

“Within hours, all of them fell sick with severe gastric problems,” he added. “The hotel has become like an outpatient clinic. There are people who have not been able to get out of bed for 48 hours.”

Morrissey has yet to issue a statement. The singer has battled severe health problems all year, being diagnosed with a bleeding ulcer in January and double pneumonia in March, as well as having throat problems. His doctors had previously warned him to stop touring.

A few pesky life-threatening illnesses haven’t subdued the famously outspoken vegetarian, though – just last week he donated £10,000 to a campaign against foie gras and laid into angry chef Gordon Ramsay.

Update:

Morrissey has now released a statement explaining that his humiliation is “too mammoth to be measured”, adding, in typically dolorous style, “it could only be me”. The singer’s planned gigs in Argentina and Brazil are scheduled to go ahead. [via CoS]

I can’t give words to the sorrow I feel at the loss of perfect Peru. Oh, black cloud. After such a victorious and uplifting welcome of Lima love, the contaminated jinx had its way via a simple restaurant meal of penne pasta and tomato. Three hours later, both I, and security Liam have collapsed with a deadly and delirious bedridden disease. Five days of round-the-clock medical supervision just barely controls the corrosively toxic food poisoning. I know my luck too well. Sorrow replaces joy, and in every dream home a heartache. It could only be me.

I have returned to Los Angeles and to the expert supervision of my doctor Jeremy Fine, who assures me that I shall be fine (although not in the gossamer, powdery sense) for our upcoming shows in Argentina and Brazil. I have absolutely no idea where my beloved Chile has gone. In the heat of cancellations and postponements, the humiliation and mortification I feel on a personal level is too mammoth to be measured. If my spirits climb down any lower I could never again find the dignity to stand upright. We all live at the mercy of biological chance, and although I am not one to take refuge in clichés, I repeat my very servile apologies to any and all who back-packed their way to Peru. Alas, the dark shadow made the same journey.

Each year of life brings us nearer to our decline, but I will continue to seek a listener until I’m dead in a ditch.

with all the soul of the world
MORRISSEY
12 July 2013, Los Angeles.