Singer producing sick note before start of recital (5)
I believe the answer is:
tenor
'singer' is the definition.
(tenor is a kind of singer)
'sick note before start of recital' is the wordplay.
'sick' indicates an anagram.
'before' says to put letters next to each other.
'start of' says to take the initial letters.
The first letter of 'recital' is 'r'.
'note' is an anagram of 'teno'.
'teno'+'r'='TENOR'
'producing' is the link.
(Other definitions for tenor that I've seen before include "thread" , "Male voice of high pitch, like Luciano" , "Male 17" , "High voice - low bell" , "General meaning of a male voice" .)