Jane Barnes, the wife of Australian rock icon Jimmy, has shared a touching update as he undergoes emergency heart surgery.

The 66-year-old Cold Chisel legend revealed his medical emergency in a statement early on Wednesday, saying he was to have urgent open-heart surgery to fight the spread of an aggressive bacterial infection.

Just hours later, Jane shared an update to social media, as well as re-sharing her husband’s statement about his surgery. She offered a loving message while re-sharing his statement about the surgery.

“I love you with all my HEART,” Jane, who married Barnes in 1981, wrote on Wednesday.

Earlier, Barnes – who has been in hospital for several weeks – revealed he had cancelled upcoming shows because of the health emergency. He described the development as “hugely frustrating”.

“I know lots of other people are battling even worse things, but it still feels hugely frustrating,” he said. “Just a few weeks ago I was the fittest I’ve been in decades.”

Son David Campbell said Barnes was more worried about cancelling his upcoming gigs than having the surgery.

“I am here to allay everyone’s fears, he is in wonderful hands,” Campbell said on Nine’s Today Extra, which he co-hosts, on Wednesday.

“He loves to work and he is frustrated for the fans who have been booking tickets and coming to his shows. He is passionate about getting crews back up and running in Australia and performing with his band, but is grateful for the nurses and doctors – and if he hadn’t got bacterial pneumonia, he wouldn’t have had this picked up.”

Campbell said it was “a blessing” the infection had been discovered.

“He is in great hands and he will make a great recovery. So reach out to him on social media because all the love in the world will be good for him,” he said.

In a statement on Wednesday, Barnes said he had been fighting a bacterial infection that had infected an otherwise healthy valve in his heart. The open-heart surgery will clear out the infection and replace the affected valve.

“This has all happened very suddenly so it’s going to take a few days to figure out what’s going to be doable with my upcoming shows,” he wrote on social media.

“I’m really sorry for all the inconvenience this will cause but please be patient while my team works hard to figure things out.”

Barnes thanked Jane and the healthcare staff who had been looking after him.

“You’ve all lifted my spirits and I’m sincerely grateful,” he said.

Tweet from @jane13barnes

New arrangements for his shows will be announced as soon as possible.

Scottish-born Barnes joined Adelaide-based Cold Chisel in the early 1970s and the band went on to release a string of hit albums. He embarked on a successful solo career in 1983, with the band reuniting in 1997.

Barnes has battled a series of health concerns recently, including cancelling his 2022 summer tour to have urgent back and hip surgery for severe pain. He also had previous open-heart surgery in 2007 to correct a congenital condition.

Barnes and Jane have four children – Mahalia, Eliza-Jane, Jackie and Elly-May. He also has Campbell and two other daughters, Amanda Bennett and Megan Torzyn, from previous relationships.

-with AAP