Missy Elliott Moves Forward With Historic Tour Despite Graves’ Disease Struggles

Missy Elliott’s battle with Graves’ disease, an autoimmune disorder, won’t stop her from hitting the road for the first headlining tour of her career. The hitmaker provided a positive update on her health, telling PEOPLE she’s successfully managing the disease with medication.

“Every day I wake, I’m blessed to be here and in good health,” she said. “I’m feeling so much better now. That was a run. Every now and then you get a little ache in the leg or the knee, but outside of that, I feel good.”

Missy was diagnosed with Graves’ disease in 2008. She stayed out of the limelight for years due to her struggles with the autoimmune disorder and severe anxiety.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Famer is doing much better as she prepares to perform across North America. Out of This World – The Missy Elliott Experience Tour begins in Vancouver on July 4. Missy plans to put on an elaborate show for her fans.

“Every morning my regimen is I get up, wash my face, brush my teeth and walk,” she said. “I say my prayers as I’m walking, and then all of these ideas start coming to mind. I’ll call everybody like, ‘I want to swing from this,’ and they’re like, ‘Do you know how much that costs?’”

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Busta Rhymes, Ciara and Missy’s longtime collaborator Timbaland will join the legendary artist on her Out of This World tour. Missy teased new music after announcing the concerts.

“I probably have at least six albums worth of music at this point,” she told Variety. “I believe that it’ll be a day that everybody’s going on about their way and then you just look online and see an album date from me. So yeah, I think that’ll happen sooner than later.”

Missy hasn’t released an album since 2005’s The Cookbook.