Gretta Ray, the award-winning indie-pop singer and songwriter, is recovering from a serious health complaint which required a visit to the ER and a lengthy stay in hospital.

The Australian artist touched down in London earlier in the summer, a rite of passage for so many of her compatriots and a personal mission for Ray to further her career.

After going quiet on social media, Ray reached out to alert her followers on recent events. “Hi darlings,” she writes, “I wanted to share with you that shortly after moving overseas to London last month, I was admitted to the ER and have remained in hospital for 5 weeks now.”

She continues, “it’s been a scary time, but after a lot of uncertainty, I have a plan moving forward and will soon be on the other side of all of this.” The post is accompanied with a picture taken from her hospital bed, an intravenous drip looming above.

The road ahead is a long one. “I have a long recovery period ahead of me and for now I’m going to keep the details of my illness private,” Ray adds, “but I felt compelled to make this post to remind all of you that if you are ever feeling unsettlingly sick, in unexpected sudden pain, or you just know that something is wrong, make sure you listen to that gut feeling and get seen to as soon as you can.”

Ray’s family are now in London “taking care of me,” she writes in a followup post. “I am in good hands here in a really good hospital.”

Hailing from Melbourne, Ray’s career blossomed while she was still at school. In 2016, a teenage Ray won Triple J Unearthed and she scooped the 2016 Vanda & Young Global Songwriting Competition, which came with a A$50,000 winner’s check.

Her debut album, Begin to Look Around, dropped in 2021 and was nominated an ARIA Music Award (breakthrough artist release) and a J Award, for Australian album of the year.

In 2023 came the sophomore album Positive Spin, which was shortlisted for the Australian Music Prize, the J Award and her single “Heartbreak Baby” was nominated for song of the year at the 2024 APRA Music Awards.