Lady Gaga announces UK gig dates

Lady Gaga has announced two UK dates (EPA)

Lady Gaga has announced two UK dates - when she will be supported by glam rockers The Darkness - as part of her world tour.

Famous for donning outrageous catsuits, the reformed band will be performing on the European leg of the tour, the Born This Way Ball.

Best known for the track I Believe In A Thing Called Love, The Darkness got back together in 2011, five years after splitting up.

They won three Brit Awards in 2004 and had five top 10 hits but split in 2006 when frontman Justin Hawkins, who later revealed he had fought a secret battle with chronic drug addiction and alcoholism, quit.

Lady Gaga will sing tracks from her most recent album Born This Way, as well as previous releases The Fame and The Fame Monster.

"The Haus of Gaga and I have worked for months conceiving a spectacular stage," she said of her design team.

"The Born This Way Ball is an electro-metal pop-opera, the tale of the beginning, the genesis of the kingdom of fame. How we were birthed and how we will die celebrating."

The eccentric star will be performing at London's Twickenham Stadium on September 8 this year and at Manchester Arena on September 11.

The worldwide tour is Lady Gaga's first since the release of Born This Way last year, which sold nearly six million copies.

PA