Drake says he suffered from hair loss from having COVID-19: 'It's coming back'

Drake has told fans he contracted COVID-19 last year, and the virus played havoc with his hairline.

"I had COVID that s--t grew in weird," the rapper wrote on a fan Instagram account on August 17. "I had to start again. It's coming back don't diss."

The 'Hotline Bling' rapper's admission was in reply to a before-and-after slideshow of photos showing a heart shape shaved into Drake's hairline, posted by a fan with the caption, "That heart is stressed."

According to the American Academy of Dermatology, hair loss is a fairly common side effect of the disease. Hair shedding occurs due to an effect called telogen effluvium, which can be caused by fever or illness.

While Drake didn't give an exact timeline of when he had COVID-19, he was one of the first celebrities to get tested.

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In March last year, he admitted to spending time with NBA player Kevin Durant who had returned a positive test.

"Yeah, I had to do a test, but it came back negative, though," he said in a video obtained by TMZ at the time. "That test is uncomfortable though, they put that Q-tip all the way up inside your thoughts and s--t."