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Country star Willie Nelson has cancelled the remaining dates of his current tour, citing health problems.

In a message to fans, the 86-year-old wrote: "I'm sorry to cancel my tour, but I have a breathing problem that I need to have my doctor check out. I'll be back."

The extensive tour still had 30 dates to run, many featuring Alison Krauss, before wrapping up in November.

The singer has dealt with several health issues over the past few years.

He pulled out of the 2018 Outlaw Music Festival due to illness, just months after scrapping several shows after being hit by the flu.

In August 2017, the singer-songwriter was also forced to cut short a show in Salt Lake City due to breathing difficulties. "The altitude got to me," he later explained, adding: "I am feeling better now & headed for lower ground."

Nelson started his career as a songwriter in the 1960s, penning hits like Patsy Cline's Crazy and Ray Price's Night Life.

During the early 1970s, he aligned himself with Waylon Jennings and the outlaw country movement, achieving critical and commercial success with the albums Red Headed Stranger and Stardust.

At the height of his stardom, Nelson ventured into feature films, making his debut alongside Robert Redford in 1979's The Electric Horseman. He went on to play the lead in Honeysuckle Rose, Barbarosa and Red Headed Stranger, a Western based on his album.

In the 1980s, he formed the country supergroup The Highwaymen with fellow singers Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and Kris Kristofferson; and in 1993, he was elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame.

The singer was on tour in support of his 98th studio album Ride Me Back Home, which entered the US chart at number 18 last month.

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