Sir Paul McCartney has cancelled his entire Japan tour because of illness.

The former Beatle was laid low by a virus last week and cancelled several appearances, apologising online to his fans.

His organisers later said he was not well enough to do any of the concerts in Japan, including today’s gig Nippon Budokan hall, where The Beatles performed during their first Japan tour in 1966.

The official site of Sir Paul’s Out There Japan Tour 2014 said his doctors were ordering “complete rest”.

He is due to play at Jamsil Sports Complex Main Stadium in Seoul, South Korea, on May 28, followed by 19 US performances.

In Japan, two weekend concerts in Tokyo and another in Osaka on Saturday were cancelled.

Meanwhile, guitarist Laurence Juber has created a photo book about his career, highlighting the years he spent with Sir Paul’s band Wings.

Guitar With Wings: A Photographic Memoir was written by Grammy Award-winning Laurence, 61, and music historian Marshall Terrill and recounts the Stepney-born guitarist’s five-decade career.

The 250-plus page work includes more than 200 previously unpublished images including Juber, Sir Paul and Wings.

“Contrary to my expectations that the Wings era would be absorbed into the general arc of Paul McCartney’s career, interest in the band itself has continued to flourish and I recognised that I had a unique perspective to offer,” Laurence, who now lives in California, said.

He said he wrote about on and offstage moments of his time with Sir Paul, including recording sessions and the former Beatle’s 1980 marijuana arrest in Tokyo.