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Country music icon Dwight Yoakam is paying tribute to his tourmate Raul Malo after The Mavericks frontman revealed that his cancer battle has taken a serious turn.
On October 7, Yoakam took to Instagram to express his love and admiration for Malo, who recently announced that The Mavericks were canceling all remaining 2025 tour dates so he can undergo additional treatment.
“Sadly, the Mavericks will no longer be able to join us on the remaining 2025 tour dates as Raul focuses on his recovery,” Yoakam wrote. “Raul, I will deeply miss the exuberant and enormous musical joy that you and the rest of The Mavericks brought to the stage every night that we played our shows together. I know that I speak for the thousands of fans you touched with each of those performances when I say we are holding you in our thoughts, and sending our prayers for healing.”
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Fans immediately filled the comments with encouragement, writing, “Sending prayers for Raul,” and “Yes 🙌 🙏 for a full recovery ❤️🩹.”
Raul Malo’s Health Update
Malo first revealed his cancer diagnosis in early September, prompting The Mavericks to postpone several dates while he recovered from surgery. But on September 24, the beloved singer shared that his condition had progressed.
“I want to update you all on my health, as things have taken a turn,” he wrote. “As it goes with cancer, it’s a very unpredictable and indiscriminatory disease. I’ve developed something called LMD, which stands for ‘get this s–t out of my head.’ Treatment for this is radiation, which I will start tomorrow. We will probably jump into some chemo, and are even looking at alternative therapies.”
LMD actually stands for “leptomeningeal metastases” and it is cancer in the membranes that surround your brain and spinal cord, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
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Malo added that all shows moving forward were canceled, except for “something special” planned for the Ryman Auditorium in December. Despite the news, he assured fans he remains surrounded by love and positivity.
“I want to let everybody know, I am in no way alone, or scared,” he wrote. “I have an amazing wife and boys, wonderful family, team, road crew, band, friends and fans.”
Yoakam and The Mavericks spent much of 2025 sharing the stage on a co-headlining tour that celebrated both acts’ decades of country and Americana innovation. The pairing delighted longtime fans of ’90s country, uniting Yoakam’s Bakersfield twang with The Mavericks’ blend of classic pop, rockabilly, and Latin influences.
As Malo turns his focus to recovery, Yoakam’s message captures the deep respect between the two artists — and the hope shared across the country music community.
“We are holding you in our thoughts,” Yoakam concluded, “and sending our prayers for healing.”
This story was originally reported by Parade on Oct 8, 2025, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com ’
