Morrissey has paid tribute to one of biggest fans, who has died suddenly.

Melinda Hsu - who referred to herself as Mel Torment, or Smel - was a regular at the star’s gigs across the globe.

In an open letter, Morrissey described Hsu as “a smiling face who lent strength to every single concert, even when events were going somewhat pear-shaped”.

He also called her dedication to his music “a declaration of love for which she seemed to save all of her strength, and for which I could only ever repay with half-witted mumbles of thanks”.

Of Hsu’s regular appearances in the crowd at his gigs, Morrissey wrote: “Mel had passed a note to me at Pomona saying that it would be her final concert of the tour.

“Yet, hours later, in another venue, there she was again. Even after all she had done, even after all the money she had spent and the millions of miles she had hiked she still could not keep away from the squeeze and bend of yet another version of ‘First Of The Gang To Die’ - never imagining, I'm sure, that it is she who would be the first.”

He added that the only way to “accept” his biggest fan’s death was “to accept it”.

“There is no other way,” he wrote.

“We all have a certain unbreakable appointment and we are all helpless targets in that regard. Life's only promise is its final deadline.”

The letter, written in France, was published on the Morrissey fan site, True To You.

(by Jason Gregory)