Morrissey was attacked on stage as he kicked off his North American tour last night.

The former Smiths frontman performed at San Jose's City National Civic and was mobbed by fans during a stage invasion at the end of the show, after a number of people from the audience went up to hug the star. He ignored them and carried on singing "One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell" until fans started slamming into him and he cut the show off mid song after he was knocked down.

The 54-year-old singer, who was helped backstage by security, played a 20-song set before the interruption after a number of tour postponements due to ill health. Morrissey was told by doctors to take it easy after suffering from a bleeding ulcer, double pneumonia and a throat condition in January last year.

He is now back to his best and debuted three new songs during last night's gig - "The Bullfighter Dies," "Earth Is The Loneliest Planet" and the title track from his forthcoming album, "World Peace Is None Of Your Business."

The singer also performed a number of solo hits and Smiths songs "Hand in Glove," "Meat is Murder" and "Asleep."

World Peace Is None of Your Business is due out in July through Harvest/Capitol Music Group. Morrissey will continue his North American tour tonight in Santa Ana, California and will be joined by Cliff Richard and Tom Jones as support acts for future dates.