Bowie is in the middle of a tour of Europe and North America

The star, who spent a night in hospital in Germany last week after complaining of a pinched nerve, had already pulled out of gigs in Vienna and Salzburg.

"Due to the continuing pain and extreme discomfort... Bowie has been advised by his doctors to cancel his performances," his website states. Bowie, 57, is in the middle of a 62-day tour of North America and Europe.

The cancellation affects 11 European dates, among them the high-profile Roskilde festival in Denmark.

The statement on his website states: "David, and everybody involved with the tour, is very sorry for the hardship that this difficult decision may have caused.

"We realise that many of you will have lost money on non-refundable travel and festival tickets."

'Bad'

The statement said Bowie felt "bad" about not being able to complete the tour and had cancelled the dayes in July, "very reluctantly".

T in the Park on 10 July, in Kinross, is Scotland's biggest festival and the line-up this year includes The Strokes, The Darkness, the Pixies, Chemical Brothers and Muse.

T in the Park organisers confirmed that The Darkness would replace Bowie to headline Saturday night's main stage.

A spokeswoman said: "We're disappointed by today's news that David Bowie will not be able to perform at this year's T in the Park due to ill health, and everyone at the festival sends him our best wishes for a speedy recovery.

"This year we have one of the strongest ever T in the Park line-ups across all stages, and on Saturday night we'll see our other headliners The Darkness stepping up to close the main stage, which will be a real treat for the Balado audience."

Bowie had to cut short a concert in Prague last Wednesday because of his shoulder pain.

He took a 10-minute break during his set and returned to play two songs before apologising to fans and calling a halt to the gig.

In a month of mishaps, Bowie also suffered the indignity of being hit in the eye with a lollipop, thrown on to the stage by a fan, at a concert in Oslo, Norway.

Although pictures showed the lolly stick actually caught in his eye, he was not injured and continued the concert.