KING DIAMOND's manager Ole Bang has released the following statement regarding the cancellation of the band's North American tour (as first reported by BLABBERMOUTH.NET yesterday):

"Most regretfully we have to announce that King will not be able to tour North America as planned.

"King has over the past six months been suffering from a herniated disc in the spine, and has still not recovered to a satisfactory level.

"He was prescribed absolute rest for several months, and this appears to be more than half a year.

"Following several visits to specialists and most recent MRI scan, we have to realize that his condition need far more rest than expected in the first place. At the moment he can neither walk for more than an hour at a time, nor can he sit like you would do in a normal daily life; i.e. there is no chance that he will fully recover in time for the tour start in March.

"We deeply regret the inconvenience caused for everyone involved, for promoters, bands and fans; and most of all we're very very sorry that we can not go out and perform for the fans who have been waiting for the tour to kick off.

"Unfortunately life is unpredictable, and it's completely out of our hands when illness kicks in, and no medicine, how harsh it might have been, can cure the situation. If anything could remedy the situation it would have been done, but for now we simply just have to wait, and let King get the much-needed rest.

"I will post news about any developments as soon as it's available.

"At this time we will also like to say thanks for all the kind words of a speedy recovery we have received."

KING DIAMOND's North American headlining tour was scheduled to launch March 23 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, and run through May 8 in Houston.

King recently told MTV.com about his injury, "I can't sit down, even on my couch, for more than a few minutes. About [two months ago] I tried, and after 15 minutes, it started feeling like my left leg was getting set on fire."

"It can take up to a year and a half for a severe herniated disc to heal properly, but it varies from person to person," he added. "Right now there's not much more we can do."

Diamond got a taste of what might happen if he hits the road too soon in September when director Bill Schacht from video company Aestheticom — which has also worked with AMON AMARTH — shot a video for "Give Me Your Soul", the first KING DIAMOND clip in 17 years. "They limited what I had to do, of course, so I only did one day of shooting for 90 minutes, but just standing there moving a little bit in the full outfit was very difficult," he said. "And afterwards, I got one of those sharp attacks of pain that I hadn't had in a month and a half. The only thing I can compare it to is a really super-bad toothache or earache. And afterwards, I was like, 'OK, I'm not ready [to tour] yet.' "

Regarding how he injured his back, the 51-year-old singer said, "I think the real damage happened mixing the record, because I did that three weeks straight for a minimum of 12 hours a day. One of the last nights, when I was going to bed, I felt these pains in the sciatic nerves on each side, and I thought, 'Oh what is this?' The next morning I woke up and I couldn't walk or stand. It was like being paralyzed. I can't begin to say how painful it was. They say that's the worst pain you can experience as a human being. Had I not lived on the ground floor in a house, I would have jumped out the window."

Read more at MTV.com.

KING DIAMOND performing live in Montreal in 2003: