Madonna plans world tour

Madonna will play tracks from her new album Music

Pop star Madonna will embark on her first concert tour for eight years with a string of gigs in Europe during June, followed by US dates in July.

In a statement, the star's record label - Warner Bros Music - said the tour would "be one of the most extravagant stage spectacles of her career".

The tour will be the first since The Girlie Show outing in 1993.

The 42-year-old star is expected to base the shows around her latest Music album.

Further details as to the cities and dates for the tour have not been given. There is also no word on when tickets will go on sale.

Madonna and Guy Ritchie wed last year

However Warner's is promising to reveal a full schedule as soon as it can - probably in the next few weeks.

The announcement comes after weeks of speculation from the singer's fans over a possible tour.

Hopes were raised that Madonna was eager to perform live again after she played a gig in the US towards the end of 2000.

It was followed in November by her first show in Britain for more than seven years when she performed a one-off concert at London's Brixton Academy.

That gig, in front of a select crowd of 3,500, people was described by the singer as a "party" and was an immediate sell-out.

Fans' hopes

The concert delighted millions of internet fans who logged on around the globe to watch it as a live webcast.

It also added fuel to fans' hopes when Madonna said: "This is a chance to get my feet wet on stage again."

But Madonna has not been idle in her time away from the stage. She recorded the best-selling album Music.

She also became a mother and wife for a second time. She gave birth to her son Rocco in September.

In December, she married British film-maker Guy Ritchie - director of Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch - in a lavish ceremony in the Scottish Highlands.