24th July.
The article from the Grimsby Telegraph dated July 19th.
It came by post so sorry for the wrinkles.(the text is below the article)

RUSSELL'S GLORIOUS NOISE DAZZLES THE CROWD

SINGING sensation Russell Watson thrilled the crowd with a stirring performance at Cleethorpes's Meridian Park on Saturday.

The Salford-born opera singer treated the audience to a mixture of classical arias and Neapolitan love songs before closing the concert with a rousing rendition of

Last Night Of The Prom favourites Land Of Hope And Glory and Jerusalem.

The event, called That Glorious Noise, was one of a series of four concerts being held around the country in aid of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign.

And before taking to the stage, Russell told the Grimsby Telegraph why he was so keen to support the charity.

He said: "The work charities like this do to support victims and their families is crucial.

"Most of the people who suffer with muscular dystrophy are young boys who have a short life expectancy and for a parent to have to experience that must be incredibly difficult."

Former factory worker Russell, who shot to fame in 1999, said he received lots of requests to perform at charity concerts - partly, he believes, because of his fight against a brain tumour in 2007.

He said: "People relate me to illness in certain respects because of the brain tumour that I had.

"I get a lot of people that come up to me in the street who say they were ill or their mother was ill and that hearing about my illness had been a big help."

Russell, who has just recorded his latest studio album with Ennio Morricone's orchestra in Rome, said he was enjoying performing more than ever

"I'm much more grateful to be here than I was before. I feel fortunate not only to be singing, but to still be here."

The audience at Meridian Park were certainly grateful that Russell had made the trip to Cleethorpes, as they greeted his arrival on stage with warm applause.

On a gloriously sunny, but chilly, summer's evening, Russell opened with the lively O Sole Mio, more commonly known as the "Just One Cornetto" song, before striking a pose on stage

as he jokingly invited members of the audience to snap him with their cameras.

Accompanied by the Orchestra d'Amici, conducted by William Hayward, Russell was in fine form and his boyish charm was going down a storm with the appreciative audience.

At the opening of Parla Piu Piano, the theme tune to The Godfather, one woman stood and broke into a spontaneous round of applause, with a look of wonder in her eyes.

30th June.
Part of the Harewood Concert brochure.

22nd June.
The Hartlepool Concert Brochure

22nd June.
From Muscular Dystrophy's publication Target MD.
Target MD is the charity's flagship publication.

Friday 18 June 2010
AN INTERVIEW WITH RUSSELL WATSON

Russell Watson, "The People's Tenor", underwent lifesaving surgery in 2007 following the regrowth of a brain tumour.

In this extract from an interview with TargetMD Russell shares his thoughts on his life-threatening illness and tells us why he’s supporting the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign at our summer concert series.

How did you keep yourself going through such a tough time recently?

It was always about focusing on each stage of the illness. When I was diagnosed with a brain tumour it was about staying alive and getting treatment. As I got better I focused on getting back to full fitness as I’d been unable to exercise for a very long time. Lastly was the hurdle of getting back into the performance saddle

Are you glad to be back in the spotlight?

It feels good. I struggled with my health for a good four and a half years. In the last few months I’ve felt like myself again as I’ve been able to focus on what makes me happy, rather than just staying alive. I can spend time with my friends and family – and think about my career which all makes me feel very grateful.

What’s on the horizon for you musically?

Besides my summer concerts in support of Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, I’ve just recorded an album with the Roma Sinfonietta, the orchestra which Ennio Morricone used in his spaghetti westerns. It’s given the music an amazing Mediterranean flavour that is totally different to any of the records I’ve done before.

You have performed in front of a lot of famous people. Who were you most excited to meet?

I met the Beckhams and they were great – but singing at the Vatican for Pope John Paul II has to top that! And performing on the West Lawn of the White House in front of millions of people was absolutely amazing. I met President Bush a couple of times and I can’t talk about him as a president, but as a human being he was pretty nice.

What can people expect from your summer concert series?

I like to sing songs that my audience want to hear. People always ask for “Nessun dorma”. Another one that gets people going is “You Raise Me Up”. Neapolitan songs like “O solo mio” suit me fine as I love to sing them. You might even hear “Jerusalem” at these concerts so the audience should come armed with flags!

How do you feel about doing these performances for the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign? Does it spur you on knowing that you’re raising money for people with muscle disease?

I support charities because too many people have to work too hard just to stay alive. The government doesn’t put enough funding into health care. I was aware that muscular dystrophy is a debilitating disease and that people don’t always have a great quality of life, so I was happy to think I could make a difference.
There are still a few tickets left to see Russell perform at venues across the UK this summer.

11th June.
From Sammy Jones,the leisure editor of the Milton Keynes Citizen.
article dated May 11th.

5th June
From the Manchester Evening News 14th May.

1st June.
The Newspaper edition of the recent article in the Telegraph...29th May

Russell Watson's holiday heaven and hell

27th May.
From the TELEGRAPH

26th May.
From the YORKSHIRE POST..17th May

24th May.
A recent article from the GRIMSBY TELEGRAPH.

'SINGER'S HOPING FOR A REAL BUZZ FROM RESORT'
GRIMSBY TELEGRAPH May 13th

18th May.
1am

From The YORKSHIRE POST

Life is a great gift. Perhaps I didn't appreciate that until I nearly lost it'

Published Date:
16 May 2010

Russell Watson is tired. He's just arrived back from performing with a renowned Italian orchestra in Rome. It was an exhausting trip and getting through Gatwick took longer than it should, but he's not complaining. He's just grateful to be working.

In the space of decade, which began with him taking on the mantle of the People's Tenor, Watson has undergone a career-threatening operation on his throat and not once, but twice, battled back from a potentially fatal brain tumour.

Life he admits has been nothing if not eventful.

"I've always been the kind of person who likes to take things to the max," says the Salford-born singer as he heads back home to Lancashire. His career may have taken him around the world, but his heart still belongs very much in the North West. "It's all good, it's certainly a lot better than it has been. I'm on the road and that in itself is something I am incredibly grateful for."

In 2006 when the headaches began, Watson already had five bestselling albums under his belt and a trophy cabinet full of awards. He still remembers the pain, which he describes as being "like a knife being pressed into the bridge of my nose". Despite his obvious discomfort, doctors initially put the symptoms down to stress and keen to keep an increasingly busy schedule of commitments Watson flew to Los Angeles to record yet another album.

However, when his vision began to deteriorate, he was taken to hospital and an MRI scan revealed the tumour the size of two golf balls.

Alone in California, he faced an anxious wait to hear if the growth was malignant. It wasn't, but no one could guarantee he would survive the operation. Flying back to the UK for five hours of surgery, he awoke grateful to be alive, but barely able to walk and his hormone levels in freefall.

He admits the moodswings, a side-effect of the operation, often made him difficult to be around and worse was to
come. A little over a year later, just as he was getting his life
back on track, Watson was told the tumour had returned and was bleeding into his brain. It was, he says now, the ultimate wake-up call.

"I remember early on in my career when doctors discovered the lump on my vocal cord," says Watson, who had divorced his wife, with whom he had two daughters, some years earlier. "I said to myself then that if my voice survived I would never take anything for granted again. But I'm human and a few months later you find yourself slipping back into your old ways.

"After surviving the second operation to remove the brain tumour, that was it. I just thought, 'Right, Russell, how many chances do you want?'

"I never want to have to sign another medical disclaimer again, but it made me appreciate the importance of relationships, most importantly with my two daughters.

"Being close to death has taught me that life is a great gift – maybe I didn't appreciate that fully until I nearly lost it.

"Selling records is great, but my children's love and friendships are the most important thing. I'm incredibly grateful that I'm still here."

If Watson's priorities had been skewed it's easy to see why. Leaving school at 16 with no qualifications, he found a job as a bolt cutter earning £90 a week on a Youth Training Scheme. Life seemed destined to be an endless round of long hours for little pay, until on a whim he entered a talent competition on a local radio station.

He won, and it suddenly dawned he might be able to supplement his factory wages singing in working men's clubs. Having made a name for himself on the circuit, he sang the national anthem at the 1999 Rugby League Challenge Cup Final and found himself one step away from what would be his big break.

That same year he went to Old Trafford on the day Manchester United won the Premiership title. His performance of the World Cup crowd pleaser Nessun Dorma won him a standing ovation and a five album deal with Decca.

For five or six years I had been working 12-hour night shifts in the kind of jobs no one really wants to do for a living," he says. "What happened was completely unbelievable and I still have to pinch myself. There was no way that I could have predicted 10 years on I would have performed in front of the Pope and the Prince of Wales. Those kind of things don't happen to a working class lad from Lancashire."

Except they did. His debut album, The Voice, was released in 2001 with an eclectic track listing which included the anthemic Barcelona alongside collaborations with Happy Mondays' hellraiser Shaun Ryder and a duet with Cleo from the girl group Cleopatra. The mix of operatic arias and pop songs proved popular with the public, but his success inevitably stuck in the throat of traditionalists.

When four more albums followed in much the same vein, many said his voice fell well short of operatic standards and when one critic called him a "karaoke crooner" it summed up the thoughts of many. But Watson has never been short of self-confidence and, while he admits some of the criticism was founded, he has never felt any need to apologise to the establishment simply for
being successful.

"In some circles, popularity is seen as a crime," he says. "I was always aware that I was doing something that hadn't been done before. I knew there were some people who would think it outrageous to put Nessun Dorma and vocals by Shaun Ryder on the same disc. But it was about changing the landscape of classical music."

With tongue slightly in cheek, Watson now refers to himself as the Godfather of the crossover artist. It might be overstating the point a little, but those early albums did alert record labels to a previously untapped and potentially lucrative market for mainstream classical recordings.

"The classical world has to embrace acts like me or it will fade and die, at least in terms of a mainstream audience," says Watson. "Ten years ago, I kick-started something. I got some flack for doing it. I admit I wasn't at the top of my game, but my vocal coach William Haywood always says, 'Russell when you started out you weren't on a par with a classically trained singer, but now you have surpassed them'. That's good enough for me."

For all their squawking, Watson's detractors have had little impact on his career. It's the public who buy records and the singer has attracted a peculiarly loyal fan base. On his website there are daily postings from fans checking on his health and the lively online community is keen to promote the Watson etiquette among those lucky enough to meet the star. The rules go, if you have met him before, stand back and let others have a chance. They don't say what the penalty is for breaking the guidance, but they don't sound like women to be crossed.

"The fans have been incredibly supportive and they've had to put up with a lot of stuff over the years," says Watson, whose current album With Love From is in part a thank you letter to those who have stood by
him. "I really hope this record will re-establish myself and draw a line under all the health problems."

His own illness is also reason why he's keen to support other good causes and this summer he will take part in a series of concerts organised on behalf of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign, including one at Harewood House, an event which is also being supported by the Yorkshire Post.

"The voice is working well and I feel at the peak of my career. I love entertaining and if I can help other people at the same time so much the better," he says. "For me singing comes pretty close to therapy. I can walk on the stage and feel rubbish, but then the adrenalin kicks in and I always walk off with a smile on my face."

* Russell Watson will be performing at Harewood House on Saturday, June 26, as part of the Glorious Noise concert alongside Camilla Kerslake and the SoundPower Orchestra. Proceeds from the concert will help to support the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign. Tickets cost £27.50 plus booking fee and to buy call 0113 218 1000 or visit www.muscular-dystrophy.org/ thatgloriousnoise

14th May.
This is from the SALFORD ADVERTISER dated 6th May.

29th April
The Review for Russell's concert in Jersey from the JERSEY EVENING POST

16th April.
The Daily Express review for KRISTINA.

JERSEY POST

11th April.
From the SUNDAY EXPRESS

1st April
WOBURN ABBEY NEWS

News

1 April 2010

Russell Watson to put on spectacular show at Woburn Abbey

Local Russell Watson fans are in for a treat as the award-winning singer has signed up to headline at Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire on 24 July to raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign following illness that took him from the music scene for many months.

Now fully fit to perform again, the multi-platinum selling singer had taken time away from the spotlight after being diagnosed with a brain tumour. As part of his come-back tour, he has agreed to perform at the special concert in aid of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign set to take place this summer.

The picnic style concerts is named ‘That Glorious Noise’ and will feature compare Colin Baker, further special guests to be announced and music will be provided by The Sound Power Orchestra.

Talking about the concert, international singing star Russell Watson said:
“It’s an absolute delight just to be back on the stage, so the fact that I’m singing at this great venue and that I’m doing it for the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign makes it even more special. I hope that music lovers from all across the area will come and enjoy a glorious summer’s evening of musical entertainment.”

Abby Mardon, the Director of Fundraising and Marketing at the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign said:
“We’re thrilled that Russell has agreed to star in ‘That Glorious Noise’ and know his fans will be excited to see him back performing popular classical pieces at this great venue. I’m sure the events will be a real success and raise vital funds to help the 70,000 babies, children and adults with muscle disease in the UK.”

24th March.
AMBASSADOR THEATRE GROUP

Meridian Park-That Glorious Noise-Starring Russell Watson

Ambassador Theatre Group.

Local Russell Watson fans are in for a treat as the award-winning singer has signed up to headline at Meridian Park, Cleethorpes Saturday 17th July 2010.

Now fully fit to perform again the multi-platinum selling singer had taken time away from the spotlight after being diagnosed with a brain tumour. He has agreed to perform at two special concerts in aid of the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign set to take place this summer.

The concert series is named ‘That Glorious Noise’ and starts at Harewood House, Leeds on Saturday 26 June. The second event is taking place on Saturday 17 July at Meridian Park, Cleethorpes.

This picnic style concert will feature compere Colin Baker, further special guests to be announced and music will be provided by The Sound Power Orchestra.

Talking about the concert, international singing star Russell Watson said:
“It’s an absolute delight just to be back on the stage, so the fact that I’m singing at these great venues and that I’m doing it for the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign makes it even more special. I hope that music lovers everywhere will come and enjoy a traditional British outdoor summer concert.”

Abby Mardon, the Director of Fundraising and Marketing at the Muscular Dystrophy Campaign said:

“We’re thrilled that Russell has agreed to star in ‘That Glorious Noise’ and know his fans will be excited to see him at these great venues. I’m sure the events will be a real success and raise vital funds to help the 70,000 babies, children and adults with muscle disease in the UK.”

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22nd March ...6.30pm

BROADWAY WORLD INTERVIEWS RUSSELL WATSON
22nd March .

Miriam Zendle talks to the People's Tenor...

Are you having a good evening?

I am - I haven't even had a drink yet!

Is that because you're nervous or because you've been busy?

I've not had a drink because it doesn't agree with my medication. [Russell has been suffering with brain tumours over the past few years]

How are you doing, anyway?

I'm loads better now. I spent the last 12-18 months getting back on the treadmill, getting myself fit again, getting myself singing again. There's a lot of really exciting things coming up for me.

Can you tell me about some of them?

I most certainly can. I've got a new record, I'm going out to Rome to record with the Roma Symphonia. We'll be out there for two weeks. It's the orchestra that Ennio Morricone uses. They are astonishing. I think we're going to get a real Rome-esque flavour on the record.

Do you feel more inspired when you're somewhere like that, rather than just sitting in a studio in London?

Oh god yeah, without a shadow of a doubt. The thing about being in a studio is it feels so sanitised. You've almost got to shut your eyes, switch off and pretend you're somewhere else. But actually being in Rome, it gives you so much in here, here and here. Obviously you can't see where I'm pointing to, but I pointed to my heart, I pointed to my eyes and I pointed to my head [laughs]. It's quite descriptive. I'm sorry!

Have you been to the Oliviers before? What do you make of it?

I haven't - I really quite enjoyed it. When I went on everybody seemed to be quite straight in the way they delivered and I thought 'maybe it'll be the right time of the evening to lighten things up a little bit' with a bit of Northern humour.

You were presenting on opera, obviously...

Yes, Oprah Winfrey Isn't she lovely?

I can see why my boss loves you - you're very easy to talk to! Are you into musical theatre much? Do you go to shows?

I do if I get a chance. Normally if I go to musical theatre, in all honesty, I'll take the kids with me. I've got - making me feel a bit old - I've got a 9-year-old and a 15-year-old. We went to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang the other year. It were brilliant. What else... the Lion King which I thought was incredible. So yeah, we go to see musical theatre when we get the chance, but it's normally with the kids.

So some of the things tonight might not be appropriate for them...

I've heard that War Horse is really good for children. I've heard it's amazing, a few people tonight have said War Horse is brilliant.

It is meant to be amazing. I wouldn't take very little kids... but yours are 9 and 15, they're au fait with the world.

They watched The Shining with me.

In the tabloids tomorrow...

Russell Watson's Kids Shining Shock Horror. Honey, I'm home!

Did you see Tristan Und Isolde?

No. The thing is, doing what I do, I seldom get the opportunity to hear other people sing and the opportunity to go and watch productions, because I'm usually doing something myself or if I'm not, I'm with the kids. It would be then something that's child-themed.

Russell Watson: If I can do the Great Manchester Run anyone can!

22 nd January

Within 48 hours all the places for the Bupa Great Manchester Run were snapped up. But now you have the chance to go for one of 10,000 extra places.

Here opera singer Russell Watson talks about completing the run last year after fighting a life-threatening brain tumour...

Some do it for charity or to honour the memory of a loved one, others just want to get fit But whatever the reason they’re there it’s likely this will be the biggest and best Bupa Great Manchester Run ever.

The 10km run through

Manchester city centre and out to Old Trafford has been staged since 2003. And this year for the first time we’ll be able to watch the action on TV as the 36,000 runners make their way round the course.

Elite runners Jo Pavey, Haile Gebrselassie and Sonia O’Sullivan have competed in the past and organisers expect more top athletes this time round.

And the sports professionals will be joined by celebs like X Factor’s Danyl Johnson, New Order’s Peter Hook and opera singer Russell Watson, who took part last year just months after recovering from a brain tumour and weeks of radiotherapy.

“Finishing the run last year felt wonderful,” recalls Russell, 43. “But it was bloody tough. I was just coming through my recovery – I’d had a brain tumour removed, five weeks of radiotherapy and I was just getting used to taking a massive concoction of medication. It took much longer to get fit than I’d expected.

“I got over the line in around an hour which was good for how unwell I’d been, but I’m determined to do it quicker this time.”

Russell praises the fantastic atmosphere at the run, saying the support he felt as he slogged round the course helped carry him over the line.

“It’s an amazing, carnival atmosphere,” he says. “I’m local up here so lots of people recognised me and knew I’d been sick.

So as I ran through people were saying ‘Go on lad!’ and ‘You can do it!’ – especially as I was getting towards the end and I was getting a bit red in the face!”

Dad-of-two Russell first became dangerously ill in 2006 when he was diagnosed with a large brain tumour.

It was removed, but returned the following year.

The impact on his life emotionally, physically and psychologically was immense as he struggled to rebuild his life and career.

“It was a very dark time,” he recalls. “All the treatment knocked the stuffing out of me and as I lost my hair and gained weight from the steroids I was on, looking at my Uncle Fester

reflection in the mirror made me feel very, very down. But I learned to look at my sickness in stages, and once the radiotherapy was finished, the next stage was recovery. And to recover properly I had to get strong and healthy again.

“It was a long road, and took at least a year until I was back to myself. But as I got stronger, and lost that excess weight I gained when I was ill, I got a real boost psychologically.

“I know people say ‘healthy mind, healthy body’ but for me it was the other way. As my body got its strength back I felt emotionally stronger and happier too.”

Runners raised a staggering £2 million last year and everyone hopes they smash that amount this year. “It was fantastic last year,” says Russell. “But this year it’s going to be on telly so I think it will be even bigger.”

And Russell says doing his bit for charity means more to him now that he knows how it feels to be vulnerable.

“So many people do things like this because a charity they are helping is close to their heart.

“And I’m raising money for a wonderful little lass Kirsty Howard, who was born very sick with a back to front heart and misplaced internal organs. She has struggled all her life with illness.

“But she always has a smile on her face and even though she’s only 13, she’s raised £5million for Francis House, the hospice that looks after her.

“I had a difficult couple of years, but this fantastic girl can’t just move on. So I want to help her out now that I’m fit and able.

“I’m not saying everyone should run a race like this, because people have their own difficulties and different circumstances. But if I can do it then anyone who’s reasonably fit should be able to do it. So if you’re pretty fit and could jog or even walk 10km, I reckon you should get off your backside and give it a go.

“It’s great fun and you’ll feel happy and proud when you’re finished.”

The Bupa Great Manchester Run, which will take place on May 16, opened for general entries earlier this month, and within 48 hours all the places were snapped up. But organisers are now holding a ballot for the last 10,000 places. The ballot is open until February 1, 2010. To register to take part in the ballot, visit www.mirror.co.uk/bupagreatrun.

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January

From the Salford Lowry Outlet Mall/news
Christmas Lights Switch On

The Lowry Outlet Mall was host to an incredible line-up of entertainment on Sunday November 15 for their annual Christmas lights switch-on. The event saw 5,000 shoppers visit the Mall to help get the Christmas celebrations started.

Key 103 Breakfast Show presenters Mike and Chelsea hosted the event in style as they introduced acts including: opera singer extraordinaire Russell Watson, who was joined on stage by Kirsty Howard to help launch the Francis House Festival of Trees, Helen Flanagan aka Coronation Street’s Rosie Webster, Fenix, Master Shortee and Nu Era. X Factor fans were thrilled with a performance from the gorgeous 2008 finalist Laura White who blasted out songs from Adele, The Noisettes and of course her brand new debut single You Should Have Known, 2009 X Factor hopeful, Daniel Fox also joined the stage to make this years Christmas light switch on a year to remember.

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8th December

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2nd December.
The article from the WEEKLY NEWS



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29th November THE MAIL ON SUNDAY....The full text of the article is below the news pictures.





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DAILY MAIL Dec 1st

BACK IN GOOD VOICE
By line by Russell Watson

APPLAUSE filled the packed theatre. I should have felt euphoric, surrounded by loyal fans taking delight in the return of The Voice. But as the clapping slowed and the expectant audience readied themselves for my next song, I walked off stage.

My every thought was consumed by the blackness I felt descending. The sea of faces in front of me were a swirling mass. I was going to pass out.

Startled stage hands rushed to my side as I searched in my pocket for the tablets that have, for the past two years, become my lifeline. Then I pushed my way through a side door, gulping in the fresh air.

It was the first of May this year. In that moment I was so angry, upset and frustrated that I looked heavenwards and shouted: 'When is this going to end?' I had survived two life-saving operations to remove a pituitry tumour , undergone weeks of radiotherapy, suffered the indignity,of losing my hair, fought my way back to fitness and yet here I was, my life and career dependent on a daily regime of drugs.

I was fed up to the back teeth but as I looked around me I realised that this was the stark reality of my life now.

The tumours and resulting surgery had damaged my pituitary gland, which controls hormones released into the body including cortisol, the adrenal stress hormone which responds to stress and anxiety.

Because my body can't produce it naturally, I have to mimic it by taking hydrocortisone tablets three times a day. In my line of work, performing before thousands of people means huge amounts of stress and getting the level right in those situations can be tricky. But without them my blood pressure and energy levels plummet.

The worst-case scenario is that my heart eventually stops - but in this case, as in most when I've forgotten to take a tablet or don't take enough, I begin to feel dizzy and faint.

Within ten minutes of walking off stage I was fine again. Thankfully, the musical director had realised something was wrong and had the orchestra launch into a long instrumental. I walked back on stage, carried on singing and no one in the audience knew anything had ever been wrong.

As well as the hydrocortisone, I have a really horrible, oily injection of Nebido, a testosterone hormone, needed for sex drive, maintaining male characteristics and helping with energy levels. My doctor gives me one of these injections every ten weeks.

I also have a daily growth hormone, Norditropin SimpleXx which I need to stop me feeling too tired or depressed as well as to balance my weight and my concentration. I use an EpiPen - similar to one used by diabetics - to inject myself in my stomach orthigh

Ironically, I need the drugs to stay alive, but they carry risks. I have to undergo regular blood tests because the testosterone can increase the chance of developing prostate cancer, while the growth hormone can increase the chance of breast, colon and bowel cancer.

I never imagined when I started getting bad headaches in 2003 how much my life was going to change. They were harsher than anything I'd ever experienced - a real monster behind the eyes - and I'd get them at least once a week.

I saw a neurologist in Manchester who said it was stress and told me not to worry, so I carried on touring and recording and just lived with it.

But at the end of the summer of 2006, I was in Los Angeles playing tennis with a friend and I realised I could not see the ball.

I went for tests at the Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre there and could hardly see the consultant's face as he told me I had a large benign tumour, part of which was filling the frontal cavity of my skull, while the other part was pushing into the top of my nose and pressing the nerve to my eyes, causing my vision to deteriorate.

That night I stood on the balcony of my tenth-floor room at the Four Seasons hotel, full of dark thoughts. I self-pityingly asked, 'Why me' and thought about jumping.

If it hadn't been for my young daughters Rebecca, who is now 15, and Hannah, nine, who I knew were waiting for me back home in the UK, I honestly believe I might have done it.

I was told the condition affects four in every 100,000 people, but because the tumour is usually small and difficult to detect, it is often undiagnosed because symptoms such as headache, poor vision and nausea are attributed, as mine were, to stress.

When I returned home, surgeons at St George's Hospital in London removed the tumour through my nose. There was a lot of swelling around my face afterwards and it was painful for a few weeks, but slowly I began to feel normal again. The blinding headaches that had blighted my life were gone.

By the following March I was ready to do a 22-city tour and believed my life was back on track. Unfortunately, although I didn't know it at the time, the surgeons had not managed to remove all of the tumour - and it had grown back.

I remember so clearly waking up one morning in October 2007 with the worst headache I have ever had. I was burying my face in the pillow and screaming, then being sick. I couldn't see, my temperature was nearly 40C and I thought this was it. I was dying

My personal assistant Victoria Davis arrived at my house for work and called an ambulance straight away. She told me later that I looked grey.

Everything was a blur but I could hear one voice saying, 'Stay with us, Russell, stay with us, mate' over and over again. It wasn't until I got out of intensive care a week later I learned it was the ambulance medic. He was the one who'd kept me going when I wanted to give up and die I was in so much pain.

The second tumour had grown to such an extent it had begun to haemorrhage. It was also pressing on my optic nerve and there was a danger I could go blind if it wasn't removed straight away.

Before I agreed to the operation, which had to be done within 24 hours, I wanted to see my daughters, who live nearby with their mum Helen. At that stage I wasn't convinced I was going to pull through.

This time the surgeons went in through my upper lip and along the floor of the nasal cavity to access the tumour. The pain afterwards was horrendous and I could barely lift my head from the pillow, let alone walk a few steps. I was completely drained.

But I was soon convinced - maybe it was the euphoria of surviving - I'd be back singing within eight weeks and everything would carry on as normal.

I had no idea how long it was really going to take me to recover, and I am very lucky that I have some great friends who put up with me when I felt moody or depressed, and were a huge support.

Doctors do not know what causes pituitary tumours, but they know they can regrow, so I needed a five-week course of radiotherapy - to try to reduce any potential growth - which started on January 2, last year.

The stark reality of the treatment I was going to have to endure five days a week hit me when I went for the first session. I was going to have radiation, via lasers, on four points - front, back and each side of my head. Measurements have to be absolutely exact to the millimetre, otherwise it can be catastrophic.

I lay on an operating table, and was securely attached to brackets so that my head couldn't move.

Then a Perspex box-like contraption was fitted to the contours of my face and a further Perspex box fitted over that, from the neck up - all of it designed to stop any movement of my head.

The actual 'zapping' lasted only a couple of minutes but it was absolutely terrifying. I felt claustrophobic and couldn't imagine how I was going to endure this for five weeks, never mind relax as the nurses kept telling me to do.

Weirdly though, it just became routine after a week.

What I hadn't been prepared for were the side effects. I felt as if I had flu constantly, every muscle ached, I couldn't move out of the chair without feeling exhausted. Unscrewing the top of a water bottle would knock me out for the day. Then one day I was washing my hair and big clumps started falling out.

I'm 6ft 1in and have always been very physically fit. I play tennis, box and work out. I took pride in my appearance, and overnight I looked like Friar Tuck, with little clumps of hair and felt like an old man.

I looked in the mirror in despair. At that moment I didn't care that the treatment could have been saving my life.

To make matters worse, a side effect of radiotherapy is inflammation of the skin, so I had to take steroids to counteract it.

And of course, the steroids had their own side effects.

Not only did I put on two stone in five weeks - going up to 16½ stone - they made me incredibly angry and aggressive and I'd fly off the handle at the smallest thing. Rebecca and Hannah were terrific - they became very protective of me and if anyone came over to say hello when I was out, they would close ranks around me as a kind of warning.

There were days when I felt so sick and miserable I didn't want to go on, and days when the girls - who split their time between my home and my former wife Helen's - would come over and I felt confused and unable to concentrate.

But they were so loving and, in a funny way, I think it has improved our relationship and brought us closer.

I didn't think about my singing once during this time. I didn't have the mental capacity to take it on board. I knew that I had to divide my recovery into stages - it was the only way I was going to be able to deal with it

The first stage was making it through radiotherapy, and the second was getting fit - I was in the gym the day after I finished treatment. I could barely do five minutes on the running machine and lifting weights that were just 1kg nearly killed me, but I felt as if I was getting my control back, something I had lost ever since my tumour had been diagnosed.

It took ten months to get anywhere near my old physical fitness again. I began watching my diet and lost the weight I'd gained, getting back to my normal 14½ stone.

The next stage was my voice. I can't tell you how much effort and time I have put into getting myself back to being the singer I once was, and for more than a year I was not even convinced I could.

Trying to sing classical music, such as Nessun Dorma which requires you to really use your diaphragm and breathing, was impossible because the pressure generated in my head to reach the higher and more powerful notes was agony. I just could not deal with it. I'd feel dizzy and my vision would become affected.

I had to turn to Frank Sinatra, soul, and easy-listening music to be able to sing at all. I knew the chances were that I was never going to be able to sing as I used to.

But having my physical fitness back meant I could focus on my voice. I practised every day with my voice coach and amazingly, after all I have been through, the tumour seems to have opened up the nasal cavity and cleared my sinuses, which has had a beneficial effect on my voice.

I believe I have a better voice now than I did before and I'd like to think it's my reward for the bad times.

I have signed a new contract with Sony and will be bringing out a classical album at the end of 2010 as

I celebrate my tenth anniversary in the record industry.

It feels as if I am starting my life again. Being ill has forced me to have a new beginning, but one that I hope will, ultimately, make me a better performer.

That said, there are still days when I have mood swings because my hormone levels may fluctuate. At the moment I am using up too much testosterone - in five weeks I am using what should last ten - and doctors have no idea why.

Travelling can be a nightmare because my injection timetable may not coincide with my work one. If I go to Malaysia, for instance, I take my assistant Gary along because if I was sick I may not be able to explain quickly enough the problem to a foreign doctor who doesn't speak English, whereas Gary knows what to do.

Although I have to carry a bag full of drugs and needles through customs, no one bats an eyelid whereas before I used to get stopped and searched all the time.

I feel as if I have been given a second chance at life and I want to grab it with both hands.

I appreciate my friends and family more but I'm less certain about having a long-term relationship.

I have had to become quite selfish in the way I view my life. I have my children, my singing and my health to focus on and it doesn't leave a lot of energy for anyone else at the moment.

I want to prove to any of those that doubt me within my industry that the difficult years are now behind me.

Interview: Nikki Murfitt

'The drugs Russell is taking are replacing the hormones his body no longer makes,' says Tara Kearney, Russell's endocrinologist who works at Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust, Salford, and the Alexandra Hospital, Cheadle.

'About ten per cent of patients who have surgery for this type of tumour may experience a recurrence over a ten-year period,' she says.

'However, radiation treatments can reduce this risk. It is hard to remove all of a pituitary tumour because the carotid arteries run either side of the gland, and if the tumour is wrapped around the arteries, some of it may have to be left intact to avoid haemorrhaging.'

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30th Oct 09

RUSSELL WATSON helps launch handwashing and hygiene "BMI Clean Team" campaign

Singer Russell Watson poses with Lesley King, Infection Control Sister at BMI The

Alexandra Hospital, at the hospital’s launch of “BMI Clean Team” hand washing and hygiene campaign.

Singer Russell Watson helped nurses at BMI The Alexandra Hospital launch a yearlong “BMI Clean Team“ campaign to promote handwashing and hygiene this week. The hospital is one of several BMI Healthcare hospitals across the country taking part in the campaign, which was introduced in conjunction with Infection Prevention Week (19-23 October).

Mr Watson was at the hospital on 19 October for a consultation with his specialist Dr Tara Kearney, consultant diabetologist and endocrinologist following his successful recovery from surgery to treat a brain tumour. Mr Watson was being filmed for ‘Tonight with Trevor McDonald’ programme airing next month that will document how Russell has twice bounced back from the devastating illness. Following his consultation, Mr Watson showed his support for the campaign by signing a BMI Clean Team campaign poster and taking a hand-washing test with a special UV light box, called a glo-box.

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The Manchester Evening News....