Morrissey Live, With Support from Sir Cliff Richard and Tom Jones

Morrissey has announced two dates in the United States with support coming from Sir Cliff Richard and Sir Tom Jones. According to the reliable fan-site True To You, the former Smiths frontman will perform with Tom Jones at the Los Angeles Sports Arena on May 10 before playing at Brooklyn's Barclays Center with Sir Cliff Richard on June 21.

Morrissey Performing at the Manchester Evening News Arena

They are the first confirmed shows since Morrissey abandoned a series of tours last year blaming a "lack of funding" and cancellations.

"Cancellations and illness have sucked the life out of all of us," he wrote on the fan-site at the time  "and the only sensible solution seems to be the art of doing nothing."

After briefly finding himself without a record deal, Morrissey has since inked a deal with Capitol/Harvest Records who plan to release his tenth studio album in late 2014. The 54-year-old's album will be produced by Joe Chiccarelli - best known for his work with The Strokes.

The unusual gigs are announced in the same week that critic AA Gill was named the author of the Hatched Job of the Year for his scathing review of Morrissey's Autobiography - published under the Penguin Classics imprint.

Morrissey At The Hop Farm Festival

In his review, Gill called the book, "A cacophony of jangling, misheard and misused words . a sea of Stygian self-justification and stilted self-conscious prose."

Further live dates for Morrissey's upcoming tour are likely to be announced in the near future.