Little Big Town’s Jimi Westbrook Put On ‘Vocal Rest’

When you make your living with your voice, it's never a good thing when doctors say you need to be on complete 'vocal rest'.

But, that's what's happened to Little Big Town's Jimi Westbrook. According to a post on LBT's Facebook page,

"Unfortunately we need to let you guys know that Jimi has completely lost his voice and cannot sing, so we won’t be in Reno with you as planned. His doctor has put him on strict vocal rest. We will let you know as things progress and want to apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused. Thanks, as always, for the incredible love and support you guys show us." 

While not singing, I've been using my voice, too, to make a living for the past 27 years, and, luckily, have really only had a case of laryngitis once. It happened about 3 years ago, and I ended up sounding like a duck. My boss at the time told me to go home, rest my voice, and use lots of honey and lemon (which is supposed to help you get your voice back). I felt fine otherwise, I just didn't have much of a voice. Which does make it tough to talk on the radio. Luckily, my voice came back in a few days without having to see a doctor, and I was good to go again.

I've never had a serious voice ailment like the one LBT's Jimi Westbrook is dealing with, and, if I ever do, I'm thinking that would make me a little nervous. I mean, without my voice, I'm not qualified to do anything else!  Maybe my worry is overstated, though. These days it seems many singers go through periods when they've lost their voice-- it's happened to Faith Hill, Adelle, and even Sam Smith. Thankfully, modern medicine has helped them through their problems and they've been able to sing again.

But it doesn't always work that way. Take the case of Julie Andrews, the renowned Broadway star, and star of the movie, 'The Sound of Music.' She lost her voice and had throat surgery back in 1997, but because something went wrong, she hasn't been able to sing since. Yikes!  Here's hoping that after a little rest, everything goes smoothly for Jimi, so he can get back to singing all those great songs with his fellow members of Little Big Town!