After a busy 2004, 2005 was a year of regrouping and recording. Morrissey's forthcoming album Ringleader Of The Tormentors is scheduled for release in March, 2006. The album was recorded in Rome, Italy and produced by Tony Visconti, who replaced the original producer Jeff Saltzman on short notice. The majority of the new music appears to be written by guitarist Jesse Tobias, but Alain Whyte and Boz Boorer are still involved with the recording.

Going through the past year:

In January we saw a lot of press recognition and awards for You Are The Quarry. New York Doll, a movie about the late Arthur Kane including his recent journey to Morrissey's Meltdown in 2004 made its debut at Sundance. It had a limited public release later in the year.

In February, it was reported that Morrissey pulled out of a duet with Robbie Williams at the Brit Awards. It was also reported that Morrissey had signed a £2m autobiography deal with Penguin. Neither of these items were confirmed or denied by Morrissey. Update: 12/30 00:44 GMT: goinghome noted in this comment that Morrissey addressed the Robbie Williams item in the GQ interview.

In March, Live At Earls Court and the live DVD "Who Put The M in Manchester?" were released along with the live double A-side "Redondo Beach"/"There Is A Light That Never Goes Out".

In April, "A Weekend With The Smiths", an academic symposium in Manchester took place.

In May, it was announced on morrisseymusic.com that Morrissey would not be appearing at the Isle Of Wight Festival two weeks before the scheduled date. Morrissey made a statement on true-to-you.net saying he had never agreed to do the concert and disavowed any relationship to Sanctuary and morrisseymusic.com. Alain Whyte's band Red Lightning also debuted. They would tour later in the year.

In June, a short Q&A with Morrissey on Alan Bennett appeared in Time Out. In July, outtakes of the Viva Hate sessions began circulating and downloads were posted.

In August/September, Morrissey and Sanctuary patched their differences and his contract had been renewed. It was announced that recording would begin in Rome shortly. Signs of Sanctuary's dire financial circumstances also began to appear in the news. Morrissey won 'Best Solo Artist' in the GQ (UK) Men Of The Year 2005. The October issue of GQ featured an interview/article. Morrissey also was honored with PETA's Linda McCartney Memorial Award, a taped acceptance speech was broadcast. It was also reported that Morrissey sold his house in Los Angeles.

In October, November and December, more details of Ringleader Of The Tormentors began to surface on true-to-you.net, with recording finished. Morrissey also did two Q&A's on true-to-you.net and posted details on the financials of the court case involving Mike Joyce. Tony Visconti posted a journal and photos from the recording on his website.

Check the news archive for links to all past news items. Thank you again to all the contributors for making Morrissey-solo what it is.

2005 releases:
- Live At Earls Court
- "Who Put The M In Manchester?" DVD
- "Redondo Beach/There Is A Light..." (live)

• 2005 news item image gallery - images used in news items on Morrissey-solo in 2005.