'Exhausted' Faithfull axes tour

Faithfull dislikes perceptions of her as a 1960s icon

Singer Marianne Faithfull has had to abandon her European tour after collapsing from exhaustion last week.

Faithfull, 57, had been due on stage in Milan on Wednesday but felt "very unwell" and fainted, her agent said.

Doctors diagnosed chronic exhaustion, in the wake of her 75 performances in The Black Rider, Robert Wilson's award winning play, in San Francisco.

Dates were axed in Graz, Linz, Zurich, Vienna, Palma, Barcelona, Amsterdam, Brussels, Dublin, Glasgow and London.

The singer, whose career has spanned 40 years since the release of her first record As Tears Go By in 1964, had opened her tour in Iceland on 11 November.

Singer's apology

It was due to end her tour at London's Shepherds Bush Empire on 16 December.

Her agent said it had initially been hoped Faithfull could continue her tour after a week's rest, but after she returned to her home in Paris, her doctor said she needed three months to recover from the exhaustion.

All of the shows will be rescheduled for the spring of next year.

"I'm sorry to have let my fans down, but I will be back," she said.

The singer released an album, Before the Poison, at the end of September.

All current ticket holders are advised to retain their tickets until details of the rescheduled tour are announced. Her agent said this would be in the near future.