Linh: two months of forced silence after losing her voice during a concert, and a "new strength" found

Everything was happening so fast for Linh. Discovered by Gims thanks to her covers on social media, the 30-year-old singer-songwriter with roots in Nice was quickly releasing her first album and touring, boasting 1,7 million followers on TikTok and 80 million streams according to her label. Then, at the end of February, in the middle of a concert in Brittany, it all came to a halt. "My voice completely gave out. And I didn't see it coming at all," she told AFP. Two months of strict vocal rest followed—"I couldn't make a single sound, not even cough, nothing at all," she explained—before she was gradually able to relearn how to sing.

From shock to composition: a silence transformed into a resource

At first, the ordeal was difficult to absorb. "For the first few days, I was in shock," she told AFP. But the singer quickly chose not to let the situation control her. "I asked myself: am I going to let this happen to me, or am I going to accept it and use it to my advantage?" She moved closer to her piano, composed melodies without using her voice, and found "a new strength" in this enforced silence. The recovery period also inspired new creative directions. She compares her return to that of a top athlete after an injury: "When you have your cast removed, you shouldn't run a marathon right away. You have to move your leg a little, walk, jog, and then start again." Open with her fans about what she was going through—despite the fear of being forgotten—she says she was buoyed by the outpouring of messages of support. “For me, it was essential that I be transparent, and in the end, it was very well received,” she told AFP. Linh plans to reconnect with her audience at upcoming festivals.