Barnes is suffering complications following elective back surgery on September 6 and has been strong advised by his doctors to rest.

Having undergone surgery five times in one week, Barnes has decided to fight them no more.

“Thirty years of back breaking work broke my back! But seriously I’m incredibly grateful for the many messages I’ve received from fans and also the fantastic media support but I hate missing live shows more than anything and the doctors have told me very clearly that I need to rest before the start of the tour so that is my focus.”

The lead singer of Cold Chisel is currently celebrating 30 years of solo success.

In the 1970s and early ’80s Cold Chisel had been extraordinarily successful with a string of number one albums and their last shows formed the basis of the film The Last Stand, the biggest-selling concert film of any Australian band.

However Barnes was uncertain he could make it alone.

“It was a frightening world out there. I was wondering what I was going to do and how it was going to work,” he says.

Crediting his manager Michael Gudinski, Barnes went on to do what he does best – perform and record.

“I think we finished the last of [Chisel’s] The Last Stand shows in December ’83 and I was on tour and road-testing songs by February/March ’84, then in the studio recording in April, so we didn’t muck about at all.

“I wanted to keep the momentum going … we went and did shows in north Queensland and we were just deafening, we were relentless and we were hard. Then we went into the studio in Sydney with Mark Opitz and made Bodyswerve.

“Nobody had the chance to compare it to Cold Chisel because I never stopped. We played hard, raw rock ’n’ roll. We weren’t trying to be anything we weren’t, and people either liked it or they didn’t. We just put it out there and, luckily for me, it went to number one. It was a good start.”

Barnes went on to make six chart-topping albums in a row and hits including No Second Prize, Working Class Man, I’d Die To Be With You Tonight, Lay Down Your Guns and Good Times.

To celebrate his 30th anniversary, Barnes has released his 15th studio album, 30:30 Hindsight.

“I was trying to do something special for the 30th anniversary. Chisel did Standing On The Outside, where we got a lot of our favourite bands to record our songs. It’s a great idea, but everyone’s been doing it. And, that idea took me out of the picture. So I thought, I’ll get all my favourite acts and I’ll get to sing with them! It’s either me being the singer, or doing duets. More often, it’s me being the singer. I started getting more and more friends involved.”

The new album has Barnes surrounded by family and friends, revisiting some of the biggest hits from throughout his solo career, along with a few deeper cuts and personal favourites. Family includes daughter Mahalia, son David Campbell and brother-in-law Diesel. And the friends include Keith Urban, The Living End, Bernard Fanning, Troy Cassar-Daley, Tina Arena, Steven Van Zandt and many more.

Tickets bought for Barnes’ original date at the Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre are still valid for the new date.

If you are unable to attend the new show date, contact the box office no later than Wednesday, October 1 on 1300 788 503 or info@shoalhavenentertainment.com.au for a refund.