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Queen's Brian May fighting 'persistent illness'

Brian May from Queen performs at 2015 Rock in Rio on September 18, 2015 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. 

Queen singer and guitarist Brian May has revealed that he is fighting a "persistent illness which is destroying (his) energy and (his) will."

May was set to perform 11 candlelight concerts before Christmas with Kerry Ellis but wrote on his website that he would be unable to go on with the plan.

"I'm gutted to have to pull out -- I hate letting our loyal fans down," May wrote. "But the advice I have had is that I must take time off to heal, rather than go out on tour again and risk 'falling down on the job,' which would be much worse."

May wrote that he "agonized over" the decision to pull out of the concerts, but he doesn't feel "confident to perform the scheduled shows to the standard" his fans expect.

"I got myself in a very depleted state and have taken the decision now to clear my diary of everything until the end of the year," he wrote. "I'm leaving today on a big steel bird to spend some time recharging in a safe place. Need to turn off the phones and media for a while ... I have to get away and prioritize healing."

May thanked his fans for their support and well wishes, and his site offered "a consolation for disappointed fans" in the form of a newly recorded studio album by May and Ellis, which is scheduled for release in March.

May, who founded Queen with Freddie Mercury in 1970, underwent tests in 2014 to find out if he had prostate cancer, but doctors cleared him of the disease weeks after the biopsy was completed.

May also has a doctorate in astrophysics.