French rocker Johnny Hallyday has played down his recent hospitalisation and blamed the media for turning his health problems into headline-grabbing news.
The singer was airlifted to a medical centre on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe on Saturday (25Aug12) after falling ill while on holiday.
Early reports suggested the 69 year old was treated for heart problems, but Hallyday's producer, Gilbert Coullier, has since explained that the musician was simply suffering with bronchitis and was only transported to hospital as a "precautionary measure".
On Monday (27Aug12), he was transferred to another clinic on the island of Martinique, and Hallyday has now reached out to fans online to assure them there is no cause for concern, despite what they may have read in the press.
In a post on the Instagram social networking site, he writes, "As usual the media exaggerates everything. I have only had a severe bout of bronchitis which I've had since my summer tour dates."
Hallyday began a lengthy tour in May (12) and is expected to resume his live shows in October (12).
Fans of the rocker have reason to be worried whenever he is sick - he fell gravely ill and checked into hospital several times in 2009 after a back operation in Paris left him in a critical condition, and last year (11) he took legal action against a surgeon to determine whether the initial procedure was botched.