John Legend has postponed his upcoming tour until next year (13) to allow him extra time to complete his new album.

The Ordinary People hitmaker was due to kick off his latest trek in Clearwater, Florida on 16 October (12), but he has now scrapped the gigs in favour of perfecting his forthcoming release, Love in the Future.

Apologising to fans with a note on his website, he writes, "Hey beautiful people, I'm writing with a change of plans to share with you.

"As you all know, I've been working on my new album, Love in the Future, with Kanye (West) and the rest of my creative team for a while now. I planned to release the album this Fall and go on tour to perform new songs from the album... But, unfortunately, while the creative process has been exciting and I'm pretty certain we're going to deliver the best album of my career so far, the timing hasn't adhered to the schedule I originally envisioned.

"In other words, we're not done with the album. And my team and I have made the agonizing decision to put off the tour until 2013 when we know we will have the new music done and will be ready to fully unveil the creative vision through the album and the live experience.

"I don't like letting my fans down, and I sincerely regret disappointing the thousands of you who have already spent your hard-earned money and gotten excited to see the show. Please know that we will try our best to make the music and the 2013 tour well worth the wait... Thanks for your patience. I sincerely apologize if I've let any of you down. I'm going to get back to work and make sure we make this album the 'best you've ever had.'"

Legend's new album will be the follow-up to 2008's Evolver.