Jimmy Barnes puts shows on hold after a hip 'twinge' turns into ...

Jimmy Barnes says he needs to get surgery after suffering "unbearable" hip pain

He says his upcoming shows will be "impacted" by the unexpected surgery

Barnes says he's expected to make a full recovery and will contact ticket holders in the coming days

Australian singer Jimmy Barnes says his solo tour dates for the next two months will be "impacted" after getting unexpected hip surgery.

Barnes posted the health update on his Instagram account on Saturday.

The 68-year-old rock icon posted a photo of himself smiling in a hospital bed with his wife Jane Barnes.

"I had a twinge in my hip when I was leaving Dunedin on Thursday morning and by late last night the pain was unbearable so I went off to hospital," the singer said. 

"The doctors have recommended a remedial medical procedure ASAP followed by some physio to address the issue. 

"These doctors don’t muck around! Providing all goes to plan, I’m expected to make a full recovery in six weeks."

It's unclear if the tour dates will be cancelled or postponed, with Barnes saying the "August and September solo shows will all be impacted".

"Ticket holders will be contacted with further info in the coming days once we have new plans in place," he said. 

"I apologise for the inconvenience this will cause everyone – I HATE moving shows! — but thank you for understanding."

Barnes is currently on his Hell of a Time solo tour, which had seven more shows booked in Queensland and NSW.

He has also committed to a national tour with Cold Chisel to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the band. 

The Big Five-0 Tour is due to kick off in October. 

The first show will be held in the NSW city of Armidale, where the band was based back in 1974, and has already sold out. 

In Saturday's social media post, Barnes didn't say whether the Cold Chisel tour would be impacted, but made a point of saying his solo shows were affected. 

It's not the first time we've seen happy snaps of Barnes in a hospital bed.  

In November, he cancelled a festival appearance after being put on bed rest to recover from a bacterial pneumonia in November. 

But two weeks later the bacterial infection spread to his heart and he had to have open-heart surgery. 

Barnes said doctors had to put in a "clean valve" during open-heart surgery in December. (Instagram: @jimmybarnesofficial )

The infection had spread to a valve in his heart, which had been replaced years prior because of a congenital defect. 

He said surgeons needed to "clear out [the] infection and put in a clean valve". 

Barnes was back home in time for Christmas a week later and had announced new tour plans two months later in February.

He made he return to the stage a the Blues Fest music festival at the end of March.