Elvis Costello has revealed he is battling a very aggressive form of cancer and has cancelled his European tour.

The London-born musician, whose real name is Declan Patrick MacManus, has been advised to rest by his doctor following surgery for cancer.

The 63-year-old released a statement on Facebook saying that while he had returned to touring he now needed further rest.

Costello, whose pseudonym comes from a mixture of Elvis Presley and his musician father's stage name, was due to perform gigs in Manchester, Pula, Croatia, Graz and Vienna in Austria, Tysnes in Norway and Rattvik, Sweden.

He had previously cancelled dates in Southend and Plymouth last month and at the time said it was due to 'medical reasons'.

Elvis Costello, pictured, 63, has cancelled a European tour after revealing he is battling an aggressive form of cancer

Costello, pictured with his singer and pianist wife Diana Krall in March, has been married three times and has three children

He released the statement, pictured, on Facebook and thanked fans for coming to his recent gigs which he performed just weeks after the surgery occured

Costello, pictured in 2007 with Canadian wife Diana Krall and their twin sons Dexter and Frank, said it was 'impossible to judge' how his body would cope with the return to touring

The statement said: 'The spirit has been more than willing but I have to now accept that it is going to take longer than I would have wished for me to recover my full strength. Therefore, I must reluctantly cancel all the remaining engagements of this tour.

In the statement, Costello, who began his career in the 1970s, added: 'Six weeks ago my specialist called me and said, 'You should start playing the Lotto'.

'He had rarely, if ever, seen such a small but very aggressive cancerous malignancy that could be defeated by a single surgery.

'I was elated and relieved that our European summer tour could go ahead.

'Post-surgical guidelines for such surgery, recommend three weeks to four weeks recovery depending on whether you are returning to a desk job or an occupation that involves physical work or travel.

'It was impossible to judge how this advisory would line up with the demands on a traveling musician, playing 90-minute to two-hour-plus performances on a nightly basis but by the time we reached the Edinburgh Playhouse, I was almost fooled into thinking that normal service had been resumed.

Costello, left and right, said he was initially elated when told the cancer could be cured by surgery but has accepted he needs longer to recover

Costello has been making music since the 1970s and released his debut album in 1977

The musician, left and right, grew up in Twickenham and is the son of a jazz trumpeter

'I have to thank our friends attending last night's show in Amsterdam and those in Antwerp, Glynde and at Newcastle City Hall for bearing me up.

ELVIS COSTELLO'S TOUR DATES Elvis Costello began his European Tour on June 15 but has had to cancel six future gigs, along with two that were axed last month. The tour dates are as follows: Gigs performed: JUNE: Friday 15: Nottingham Saturday 16: Blenheim Palace Sunday 17: Cardiff Saturday 23: Dublin, Ireland Sunday 24: Edinburgh Monday 25: Newcastle Saturday 30: Sussex JULY: Monday 2: Antwerp, Belgium Tuesday 3: Antwerp, Belgium Thursday 5: Amsterdam, Netherlands Gigs cancelled: JUNE: Wednesday 27: Southend Thursday 28: Plymouth JULY: Friday 6: Manchester Sunday 8: Pula, Croatia Monday 9: Graz, Austria Wednesday 11: Vienna, Austria Saturday 14: Tysnes, Norway Monday 16: Rattvik, Sweden Advertisement

'The spirit has been more than willing but I have to now accept that it is going to take longer than I would have wished for me to recover my full strength. Therefore, I must reluctantly cancel all the remaining engagements of this tour.

'My apologies go to our ticket holders in Manchester, Pula, Graz, Vienna, Tysnes and Rattvik but I would rather disappoint our friends there by not appearing than in pressing on with a show that is compromised and eventually puts my health at risk.'

Costello, son of late jazz musician Ross MacManus, added that he had a new record planned for later in the year as he urged other men to see medical advice if they had any worrying symptoms.

'To leave you with some more optimistic news, The Imposters and I - together with several of our other friends - have made a magnificent new record of which we are truly proud. It will be issued in October, I believe.

'We will return at the soonest opportunity to play that music and your favourite songs that still make sense to us all.

'Take very good care of your loved ones but gentleman, do talk to you friends - you'll find you are not alone - seek your doctor's advice if you are in doubt or when it is timely and act as swiftly as you may in these matters. It may save your life. Believe me, it is better than playing roulette.'

'Yours through music. Elvis Costello'.

The official statement added that ticket-holders should go to their point of purchase for refunds.

Costello had been due to perform in Manchester tonight.

The singer has released 24 studio albums himself alongside several more collaborations.

He has also written music for films including Notting Hill and Cold Mountain and has appeared as himself in films and television including 30 Rock, The Simpsons and Austin Powers.

Costello, pictured with his wife, also urged men to seek medical advice if they had any worrying symptoms that might be cancer

Costello is well-known for his collaborations and is pictured here performing live with superstars Bruce Springsteen, centre, and The Edge of U2, left, at the Grammy Awards in 2006

He has also worked with music legend Burt Bacharach, left, and they released an album together in the late 1990s

Costello has been married three times and has a son with his first wife, whom he married in 1974, and twin sons born in 2006 with third wife Diana Krall, a Canadian singer and pianist he wed in 2003.

The musician grew up in Twickenham, London, attending Catholic schools before moving to Liverpool aged 16 with his mother, where he formed a folk band.

He then worked in a series of office jobs which inspired some of his early songs, before returning to London in 1974 where launched his career by writing music and performing in pubs.

Costello eventually signed with independent record label Stiff and released his first music in 1977.

He tasted moderate success and was signed to Columbia Records in the US a few months later, even performing on Saturday Night Live in the same year, only to be banned from the show for more than a decade for stopping mid-performance to play a song he had been told not to sing by the producers.

It helped spark his popularity in the US and he became known for his rebellious and angry nature, before moving into a more mellow sound in the 1980s.

Costello is the son of late jazz musician Ross MacManus, pictured, who died in 2011

Other stars Costello has performed alongside include former Beatle Sir Paul McCartney, pictured here with the 63-year-old at the Royal Albert Hall in 1999

Costello is a regular sight at the Oscars and is pictured here with his wife at the 2004 ceremony