Sheryl Crow undergoes breast cancer surgery

updated 5:14 p.m. ET Feb. 26, 2006

LOS ANGELES - Sheryl Crow says she is recovering from breast cancer surgery and doctors have assured her she should make a full recovery.

Crow had the surgery in Los Angeles on Wednesday and is recovering without complications, her publicist, Dave Tomberlin, told The Associated Press on Friday.

“Her doctors think her prognosis is excellent,” said Tomberlin.

In a statement posted on her Web site, Crow called the surgery “minimally invasive” and said she will be undergoing radiation treatment as a precaution. She said she benefited from early detection, and urged other women to have themselves checked.

“I am inspired by the brave women who have faced this battle before me and grateful for the support of family and friends,” the 44-year-old rock star said.

Crow’s former fiance, cycling champion Lance Armstrong, said in a statement Friday night that he was “devastated” by her illness.

“Once again I’m reminded of just how pervasive this illness is, as it has now touched someone I love deeply,” said Armstrong, who is a survivor of testicular cancer.

Crow and Armstrong, 34, announced earlier this month they were splitting up. It would have been the Grammy-winning rocker’s first marriage and the second for Armstrong, a seven-time Tour de France cycling champion.

Crow has said her most recent album, the Grammy-nominated “Wildflower,” was inspired by their relationship.

On her Web site she urged people with questions about cancer to contact the LIVESTRONG Survivor Care group that Armstrong founded.

“Based on my contact in recent days with Sheryl, her doctor and her family, I am confident that she will have a full and complete recovery and the world will be a better place for it,” said Armstrong, who asked that Crow’s fans keep her “in your thoughts and prayers.”

The singer-songwriter and guitarist was raised in the small town of Kennett, Mo., where she sang in the local choir. A nine-time Grammy winner, she is best known for such hit songs as “Soak Up the Sun” and “All I Want to Do.”

After work as a music teacher and backup singer, including a stint with Michael Jackson, she broke through with the 1993 multi-platinum recording “Tuesday Night Music Club.”

Crow said she would have to postpone a North American concert tour scheduled to begin in March. She said she hoped to reschedule the dates as soon as possible.

“More than 10 million Americans are living with cancer, and they demonstrate the ever-increasing possibility of living beyond cancer,” Crow said in her statement.

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