British punk icons Buzzcocks are to reunite with founder member Howard Devoto onstage for the first time since he quit the band in 1977.
Devoto formed the group with guitarist Pete Shelley in 1976 but left the following year to start a new band, Magazine.
Buzzcocks went on to score a huge hit with Ever Fallen in Love (With Someone You Shouldn't've) and have broken up and reformed without Devoto several times since 1981.
Now Devoto has agreed to rejoin the band to perform four songs at two shows in London and their hometown of Manchester, England in May (12).
Shelley tells Mojo magazine, "We've been discussing it for two-and-a-half, three years. I remember talking to our promoter, and he said that if you have a story, it's possible to do bigger venues. And a good story was to get back with Howard. We thought, that's something for when hell freezes over!"
Devoto adds, "It's bound to be fun, innit (isn't it)? And now that Magazine have been back together for a while it's true I'm in good shape and fighting fit... Will it be a strict four songs and off? We'll see. I'm from the side of the fence that says you should never overlook an opportunity to be brief. It's going to be the best kind of blast - a brief one."