Country stars BIG & RICH have been force to put their tour plans for 2008 on hold - to enable singer/songwriter BIG KENNY to undergo neck rehabilitation.

Big Kenny - real name William Kenneth Alphin - hurt his neck in a car accident several years ago and doctors had to remove a vertebrae from his spine to cure his pain.

But the 44-year-old has failed to fully recover from his injuries and so the duo will take a break from the road once they complete a tour of Canada with Terri Clark and Emerson Drive in January (08).