Just after he wrapped his Forget Tomorrow World Tour, Justin Timberlake shocked his fanbase by revealing that he’d pulled the trek off while simultaneously dealing with a sometimes debilitating illness: Lyme disease.
As revealed in a vulnerable Instagram post just one day after his final show, the pop superstar had long been suffering from nerve pain and severe fatigue caused by Lyme that made him question whether he should stop touring. “When I first got the diagnosis I was shocked for sure,” he wrote. “Living with this can be relentlessly debilitating, both mentally and physically.”
He was ultimately able to overcome his symptoms and forge ahead with the tour, but Timberlake is just one of the 476,000 people the CDC estimates will receive a Lyme diagnosis each year. He’s also not the only musician who’s been open about struggling with the illness, which is usually contracted after being bitten by a tick carrying borrelia bacteria. Some of the biggest names in pop, country and rock have all battled symptoms from the disease — which is known for causing body aches, muscle weakness and immune-system problems, according to the Mayo Clinic — and those are only the celebrities who have publicly shared their diagnoses. Like countless other people, there are more than likely a few stars who struggle with the disease in private.
For more information on how to prevent and treat Lyme disease, please check out the American Lyme Disease Foundation’s website. And to see which famous musicians have opened up about their struggles with the illness, — from Timberlake to Justin Bieber and more — keep reading below.