RUSSELL WATSON - RADIOTHERAPY FOR SINGER WATSON

RADIOTHERAPY FOR SINGER WATSON

Opera singer Russell Watson is to undergo a course of radiotherapy after a brain operation saved his life in October.

Surgeons at the Alexandra private hospital in Cheshire removed an aggressive brain tumour through the performer's mouth and the long-term effects of the growth are not yet known.

And the 41-year-old father of two is to have intensive radiotherapy for five weeks in the new year, he explained.

Talking to the Daily Mail, the singer said: "It'll grow back if they don't burn it away so there's still a risk, I'm still not completely safe."

"And radiotherapy is going to be bloody awful. But I feel like I'm six points clear at the top of the league at the moment and all I need to do is draw in the next game."

Watson had been recording for his new album Outside In - due out on November 26th - when he was taken ill, suffering a "dramatic deterioration of vision" as bleeding in his brain put pressure on his optic nerve.

The Salford-born tenor, a former factory worker, shot to fame after being invited by Martin Edwards, then chairman of Manchester United, to sing Nessun Dorma at Old Trafford ahead of the team's final match of the 1998/99 season.

He has sold more than four million albums worldwide, but was forced to cancel TV appearances and a UK tour in September 2006 after undergoing surgery to remove a benign brain tumour - known as a pituitary adenoma - at St George's Hospital in south London.

Watson said he was hugely grateful for the support shown by thousands of fans.

"It's been unbelievable," he said. "I've had sacks and sacks of letters, gifts and cards. I open them all and there are letters from people who have been through the same thing, and even from people who say I'm an inspiration to them, which is the ultimate accolade."