Vines Singer Suffers Mental Illness Setback

The Vines have been forced to cancel festival appearances in their native Australia and tour dates in Japan due to singer/guitarist Craig Nicholls' mental health problems.

Nicholls suffers from Asperger's syndrome, an acute form of autism that had prevented the band from playing live for a period before they returned to the stage in 2006.

"Craig Nicholls' mental condition has deteriorated extremely rapidly over the past month to the point where he requires immediate help over an extended period of time," says a message on The Vines' website.

Drummer Hamish Rosser posted this message on the site:

"On behalf of The Vines we would like to extend our sincerest apologies to those of you who have bought tickets to see us perform and will not get to do so. We are all absolutely devastated that we've been forced to cancel all upcoming shows as there's nothing we love more than playing on stage before an enthusiastic audience. We ask for your understanding in this situation."

The Vines have released four albums since 2002, with the most recent being this year's Melodia. The rock band's Highly Evolved debut earned critical praise and sold 1.5 million copies worldwide, but they haven't been able to match its success since.

Nicholls' erratic behaviour has previously caused friction within The Vines, and he was barred from doing media interviews for a while. But the band were in good form in March when they played at the South By Southwest Music Festival in Austin, Texas.