LONDON, Jan 26: Flamboyant British jazz singer and writer George Melly was recovering in hospital on Friday after collapsing on stage during a show, his wife said. The 80-year-old entertainer was performing in Hove on the English south coast when he was taken ill. He spent the night in hospital in neighbouring Brighton where he was treated for dehydration.

The Liverpool-born singer and broadcaster, whose health problems have included emphysema and lung cancer, collapsed onto a chair after singing two songs and had to be helped from the stage.

“He has been taking some new medication and I suspect it might have something to do with that,” said his wife Diana, adding that she hoped he would be fit for his next scheduled show on Feb 10.—AFP