The five original members Donnie Wahlberg, Joey McIntyre, Jordan Knight, Danny Wood and Jonathan Knight were due to play the WIN Entertainment Centre in Wollongong on August 15.

However the band announced overnight that its forthcoming Australian tour had been cancelled due to the economic downturn.

In a blog posted on the band's website , Donnie Wahlberg said New Kids on the Block were "saddened" at the cancellation, "like many of our fans down under".

"Australia has always, ALWAYS, been one of our favourite places to travel to," he wrote.

"And quite honestly - we tried very hard to make it work.

"However we are, in fact, in the middle of a worldwide recession and we just cannot make it work.

"That is the simple truth.

"We have exhausted efforts to tie in the Far East to Australia and find other creative ways to make this work.

"It is just too complex at this time.

The boys came to prominence in the late 1980s with their unique brand of bubblegum pop, which combined good looks, singing and dance routines and sparked a rush of copycat white boy bands.

They sold 80 million albums internationally with popular songs such as You Got It (The Right Stuff) and Step by Step.