Michael Flatley, the star of the Irish dance, known to the public in Romania for the show “Lord of the Dance”, has been diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of cancer and has already undergone surgery, reports The Guardian, citing News.ro. .

“Michael Flatley was diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. He underwent an operation and is under the supervision of an excellent team of doctors,” said the message published on the artist’s Instagram account.

After posting a photo of Michael Flatley looking out to sea, his team said they would not be commenting further and asked people to pray and wish him well.

Michael Flatley became famous after his seven-minute performance during the Eurovision Song Contest in 1994. He then incorporated and expanded this moment into his Riverdance stage show, which combined traditional Irish music and dance. It premiered at the Point Theater in Dublin in 1996 and was a career-defining success.

He continued to create theater productions including Lord of the Dance, Feet of Flames and Celtic Tiger.

“Lord of the Dance” had a record 21 consecutive performances at Wembley Arena. At the time, in the late 1990s, Michael Flatley’s legs were insured for £25 million.

The dancer pulled out due to injury after performing in Las Vegas on St. Patrick’s Day in March 2017.

“Lord of the Dance” went on an anniversary tour in 2022, 25 years after its production, the money went to humanitarian aid in Ukraine after the Russian invasion.

Michael Flatley has a history of skin cancer and was diagnosed with malignant melanoma in 2003 after being spotted by an MTV viewer. He used to raise money for charities fighting cancer.

“It was a fluke that it was noticed. I didn’t even notice it before… It can be a scary place,” the artist told the Irish Independent about his cancer treatment.

64-year-old Michael Flatley was born in Chicago in a family of Irish people who emigrated to the United States in 1947. He took Irish dancing lessons in the city and later toured with Irish folk group The Chieftains.

Flatley raises money for cancer research and has links with the cancer charity Breakthrough. He was an ambassador for the 2021 initiative, which created a 33rd virtual Irish ‘constituency’ of 200,000 people representing cancer survivors in Ireland.

After retiring from the stage as a dancer, he went on to write scripts, direct, finance, and starred in the 2018 spy film Blackbird, which hits theaters in 2021, according to News.ro.