(CNN)Pop singer Selena Gomez has revealed in Billboard that her diagnosis with the autoimmune disease lupus was behind a recent hiatus from the spotlight.
"I was diagnosed with lupus, and I've been through chemotherapy. That's what my break was really about. I could've had a stroke," Gomez told the magazine in a cover story coming out Thursday.
Rumors swirled around the 23-year-old singer when she canceled part of her tour back in 2013.
About 1.5 million Americans have lupus, and it strikes mostly women between the ages of 15 and 44.