Meat Loaf is back with a new album and a lot of gigs

New York - Hard rock chart-topper Meat Loaf has announced a release date for a new album and an extensive tour of Canada, returning to a busy schedule after a string of health scares.

The 68-year-old singer said his album Braver Than We Are will come out on 9 September worldwide except in North America, where it will go on sale a week later.

Braver Than We Are, which the singer announced last year, will be his first work since 2011.

The album will also reunite him with songwriter Jim Steinman, the force behind Meat Loaf's 1977 Bat Out of Hell, one of the top-selling albums of all time.

Among the most prominent American pop artists to champion the Republican Party, Meat Loaf described his new album on Facebook saying, "Explicit and politically incorrect (hate politically correct)."

The Texas-born singer on Tuesday also announced a 14-date tour of Canada starting on 28 May in Kingston, Ontario and running through until 28 June in Abbotsford, British Columbia.

CANADA!!! As promised, we will be coming to see you! Starting in Kingston, ON on May 28 with shows through June... https://t.co/xLPsvDUqP7

— Meat Loaf (@RealMeatLoaf) April 5, 2016

Meat Loaf, who also plans eight dates in the United States in April and May, returned to the road in 2015 after a two-year gap and speculation he would retire.

The singer whose real name is Michael Aday - his stage-name evokes his portly physique - cancelled a 2007 tour of Europe due to a vocal cord problem and collapsed on stage in 2011.

Last week, he scrapped shows in Ohio and Pennsylvania because of the flu, rescheduling them for May.

Meat Loaf distinguished himself in the late 1970s with his soaring vocal range and lavish stage productions.

He revived his career in 1993 with the smash hit I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That).