Jimmy Barnes is recovering after hip and back surgery on Tuesday, a fortnight after he pulled out of a series of summer shows. 

The singer announced the cancellations and delays on November 29, saying 50 years of on-stage antics had "finally caught up with me". 

"I've had niggling back and hip issues for years, but things suddenly got a lot worse over the last few weeks and I'm now in constant and severe pain.

"As everybody knows, it's against my religion to blow out gigs but the doctors tell me I need an operation as soon as possible and it will really limit my movement for a few months.

"As much as it kills me to inconvenience everyone, I have to get this fixed so I can jump around onstage for another 50 years."

He went into surgery on Tuesday. 

Barnes's daughter posted a photo of the singer in a hospital bed along with an x-ray of his hip on his official Twitter account on Tuesday afternoon. 

"My dadda is out of surgery and awake," she said. 

"The doctors are very happy … Thanks for all the well wishes."

On Wednesday afternoon, the singer posted an update.

"Your on going messages of encouragement have been uplifting, they got me on my feet today," he said. 

"Looks I'm here for a while. The team are taking amazing care of me but I hope I'll be home for Christmas."

Barnes's wife, Jane Barnes, tweeted a photo of the singer standing upright with the help of a walker, saying he was walking slowly.

"So far so good," she said. 

Barnes pushed on with his December 3 show as scheduled, but postponed later shows and pulled out of several festivals.

The Hoodoo Gurus will replace him at three festivals, while Jon Stevens, Daryl Braithwaite and Diesel will fill his spot at the Summernats 35 in Canberra.