NEW YORK(AFP) - Pop superstar Janet Jackson, who turns 50 next month, has promised to resume her world tour in 2017 after abruptly suspending all dates and saying she was starting a family.

Jackson, who started what was to be a major global tour last year but has only played once since November, said Wednesday that she was indefinitely staying off the road as she and her husband, Qatari business mogul Wissam Al Mana, were "planning our family".

Jackson on Saturday posted on Twitter that her tour was "postponed until 2017" with all tickets to be honoured but refunds available.

She linked to an article in celebrity magazine Us Magazine in which her promoters were quoted as saying that 2017 dates would be announced at a later time.

Jackson notably put off the entire European leg of her tour.

The pop star has offered no further details about her family plans, but it comes at an age at which natural pregnancies are possible but extremely rare.

Her reticence at explaining the initial reasons for postponing concerts had sparked widespread speculation, leading her to deny that she had cancer.

Jackson last year released Unbreakable, her first album since the 2009 death of her brother, King of Pop Michael Jackson, and since her quiet marriage to Al Mana in 2012.

Michael Jackson had highly publicised drama as he tried to have children. He eventually had two children with Debbie Rowe, who worked at his dermatologist's office and married him, and a third child with an undisclosed surrogate.