Boys turn the Tap back on.

Byline: BILLY SLOAN

SPINAL TAP were torn apart by the most bitter split in rock history after a tiny replica of Stonehenge was lowered on stage during a US gig.

It was designed by guitarist Nigel Tufnel - who couldn't tell feet from inches - making them a laughing stock.

Now, the legendary heavy metal band are to stage the pop comeback of 2009.

Tap - Nigel, singer David St Hubbins and bass player Derek Smalls - will release new album Back From The Dead on June 15 to mark their 25th anniversary. They also agreed a world tour - that lasts one night.

Their Wembley Arena gig on June 30 is a tribute to ex-drummers, the late John "Stumpy" Pepys - who died in a bizarre gardening accident - and the late Eric "Stumpy Joe" Childs, who passed away after choking on vomit of unknown origin.

Nigel said: "If we're going to do a world tour on only one night at least it's this world."

David added: "The show will be dedicated to all our drummers who have passed on either to their reward or middle management at Sainsbury's."

It's 25 years since their rock mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap, which followed them on a disastrous US tour in which they ended up playing second billing to theme park puppets.

Tap promise things will be different this time as David has split with Jeanine Pettibone, who hated Nigel. .

He said: "Jeanine and I vowed never to marry in a year with a nine so we had to wait until 2000 and by that time we were so sick of each other we had to move on." Tap claim they have lost none of their sex appeal.

David said: "The typical age of a Tap groupie is between 50 and 70 - but we're talking a young 70 and old 50.

ON MY RADIO

I'M counting the days until Neil Young's a one-off gig at Aberdeen Exhibition Centre on June 24. The guitar legend's new album, Fork In The Road, is brilliant. I'll play tracks from it including single Johnny Magic on my Clyde 1 show tonight at 7pm. My playlist also features The Enemy, Simple Minds and Kasabian.

CAPTION(S):

Spinal back: David, Derek and Nigel, top, are marking their 25th anniversary with new album