Opera singer Russell Watson is in a critical condition after undergoing emergency surgery to treat a bleeding brain tumour.

The Salford-born tenor, who had a benign brain tumour removed last year, was operated on for three-hours today and remains in the Intensive Therapy Unit of a Cheshire hospital.

This afternoon, the executive director of the Alexandra Hospital, Cheadle, Mr Michael Stroud, confirmed: “Russell Watson was rushed into The Alexandra Hospital around 5pm yesterday evening. He was recording in the studio when he suddenly became incapacitated with multiple symptoms including a dramatic deterioration of vision.”

“After an MRI scan had shown re-growth of a previous brain tumour and some bleeding, he was recommended to undergo emergency surgery.”

Watson, 40, was taken into surgery at 11am, following a visit by his two young daughters.

Dr Thomas Stuttaford, The Times doctor, said bleeding from brain tumours can cause severe problems: “A bleed will extend beyond the tumour and damage the surrounding healthy tissue.” Depending on the tissue affected, patients can suffer from loss of speech, paralysis or loss of consciousness.

“A patient’s immediate prognosis will depend on the ability to stop the bleeding and to remove as much of any tumour as is possible,” said Dr Stuttaford.

Watson suffered headaches for several years before being diagnosed with a brain tumour in 2006. He had been told the headaches were stress-related but after he lost his periphery vision last year, he was given an MRI scan. A tumour the size of two golf balls was discovered. One was in the frontal cavity of his brain and the other sat at the top of his nose. He was operated on at St George’s Hospital in South London last October.

In an interview with The Times, earlier this year, Watson spoke of being told of the tumour: “Since an early age I’d had an in-built premonition, a vision that I wouldn’t make 40. For the previous seven years I’d had a recurring nightmare in which my head exploded. And here I was with a brain tumour.”

Although the operation was considered a success, the tenor struggled to regain his health as the tumour affected his pituarity gland, which controls hormones: “My mood swings went from ecstatic to suicidal.” The singer didn’t leave the house for two months after he was released from hospital. “I couldn’t deal with more than one person at a time or with multitasking and I cried easily,” he said.

Brain tumours are both difficult to remove and to prevent returning, said Dr Stuttaford. “Unfortunately even with the greatly improved treatment for cerebral tumours, reoccurrence is still common.”

Watson’s brand of populist opera has seen him sell four million albums worldwide.

He worked as a welder before he decided to try his luck singing in clubs. In 1999 he was spotted performing Puccini’s Nessun Dorma in a working men’s club and invited to perform at Old Trafford before Manchester United’s last Premiership match of the season. The performance launched his career and he was soon branded “The Voice”.

He was due to perform in the US, at a Bafta awards ceremony for British artists living in America, next week.

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