Sheryl Crow Fights Double Dose of Heartache

July 4, 2006 — -- Fate dealt Sheryl Crow a double-dose of heartache when the multiplatinum superstar was forced to face breast cancer soon after her split with fiancé Lance Armstrong.

The 44-year-old singer underwent breast cancer surgery in February to remove a lump and followed that up with preventive radiation therapy. The procedure took place not long after she and Armstrong, who famously overcame testicular cancer, announced that they were splitting up.

Crow returned to performing in May, and in an exclusive interview with "Good Morning America's" Diane Sawyer, she challenged reports that the seven-time Tour de France champion deserted her when he found out she was sick.

"No. No. No, it was really, I mean, really difficult, you know, just really difficult for both of us," Crow says. "I'm not angry. I mean, honestly, I look at it, and I just know that I can't be angry at Lance for being who he is. You know, he's a great person."

Crow and Armstrong met in 2003 and announced last August that they were going to get married. The 34-year-old cyclist has three children from a previous marriage. It would have been Crow's first time down the aisle.

Months before the breakup, Crow had a checkup and got some unsettling news from her doctors, but she hoped she wouldn't need surgery.

"I did a routine mammogram and the calcifications showed up in both my breasts," she says. "They said, 'Well, look, you know, [it] looks like they're forming a pattern but come back in six months.

"When she came in and said, 'Look it's not what we thought. We're going to have to do a lumpectomy, and then we'll talk about where we're at; whether it's in your nodes or its not.' I was so shocked. I mean, obviously, lots of tears"

Crow's full interview will air Thursday and Friday on "Good Morning America."