Tour news: Black Keys cancel NZ shows

The Black Keys - guitarist-singer Dan Auerbach and drummer Patrick Carney. (Supplied)

The Black Keys have cancelled their New Zealand tour next month.

The hit American band's promoters say a slow recovery from a serious shoulder injury to drummer Patrick Carney has forced the canning of the American band's shows in Japan, Australia and New Zealand.

Here, the band were due to play at Christchurch's Horncastle Arena on April 18 and Auckland's Vector Arena the following night.

A statement from the group apologised to fans who haven't seen the group on NZ shores since 2012.

"We are very sorry to have to cancel our upcoming performances through April 23.

"Patrick sustained a dislocated and broken shoulder in January that required surgery. Working with the doctors, surgeons and physiotherapists since January, we had expected Patrick to be ready to return to touring in April.

"The recovery process and physical therapy has taken longer than anticipated and unfortunately Patrick is still unable to perform and needs additional time to heal."

In 2011, the band pulled out of the Big Day Out tour a week before it was due to commence, citing exhaustion.

Refunds to the shows can be obtained from the agency they were purchased from - Ticketek for the Christchurch show and Ticketmaster for Auckland.

- nzherald.co.nz