The group - best known for hits such as Regret, Blue Monday and True Faith - reformed to play last year's Reading Festival and also played shows in Manchester and London over Christmas and New Year.

The four-piece have promised an album before the end of the year, which will be their first since 1993's Republic.

The group have been together since their origins in Joy Division in the mid-1970s, but they have spent most of the 1990s working on their own individual projects.

Singer Bernard Sumner has recently been working with Primal Scream on their new album, while bassist Peter Hook has found success with his new group Monaco.

Drummer Stephen Morris and keyboardist Gillian Gilbert are planning to release their second album as The Other Two later this year.

Magazine editor sues over Manson 'assault'

Marylin Manson: Sued over assault claims

The executive editor of US rock magazine Spin has filed a $24m lawsuit alleging that two of shock-rocker Marilyn Manson's bodyguards attacked him after he was threatened by the singer.

Craig Marks claims he was slammed against a wall and choked in a dressing room backstage at New York's Hammerstein Ballroom following a concert in November.

He claims Manson - real name Brian Warner - said "he could kill Marks, his whole family and everyone he knew", according to court papers. "That's what you get when you disrespect me," Manson is alleged to have said when the bodyguards released Marks.

Manson's laywer called the accusations "groundless".

Marilyn Manson - on tour this month in Japan, New Zealand and Australia - has gained a reputation for controversy in the US with his shows, with critics accusing him of devil worship. However, others have accused him of deliberately whipping up a storm to create publicity.

The Artist's pre-millennium tension

The Artist Formerly Known As Prince: Furious at 1999 re-release

The re-release of Prince's anthem 1999 to coincide with the New Year has reportedly left The Artist fuming.

The song re-entered the UK charts at number 10 on Sunday, after being re-released by his former record company Warner Brothers.

But The Artist is calling on fans to boycott the record, and has confirmed on his Website he is recording a whole series of remixes himself to release on his own label later in the year.

Kingston's blind date wedding

Alex Kingston with ER co-star George Clooney

Actress Alex Kingston has married the German boyfriend she met on a blind date - in a secret ceremony in the US.

The British star of ER married Florian Haertel, 34, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on December 29.

Two years ago, 35-year-old Kingston was divorced from The English Patient star Ralph Fiennes, who left her for actress Francesca Annis.