Songsmith Morrissey kicks off U.S. tour in Seattle

There aren't too many 50-year-old singers cool enough to warrant a mention on a teen soap like "Gossip Girl." But Dan and Vanessa were, like, totally hellbent to see Morrissey play on a recent episode of the show.

If that proves anything, it's that Morrissey is firmly set as a pop-culture legend, a man bigger than his music.

One of the greatest influencers of indie rock, Morrissey is a brooding sort of dandy with an unmistakable moan-and-soar voice and a remarkable talent for lyrics that woefully and wryly frame love and alienation.

And Morrissey's continued fame isn't just a holdover from the success of early albums or his time with the iconic British rock group The Smiths. With his February release, "Years of Refusal," Morrissey has also proven that his music — apart from his enigmatic temperament and odd sex appeal — is still very much relevant.

You can see the man himself Sunday at The Paramount as he kicks off a brief U.S. tour in Seattle.

While this tour is for "Swords," his new release of b-sides collected from the past five years, Morrissey's real musical accomplishment of late is "Years of Refusal," his ninth solo album since the breakup of The Smiths in 1987.

The album is a muscular, energetic work, characterized by the vigor of tracks recorded live in studio and the acerbic bite of the lyrics, many of which seem to be Morrissey's way of settling the score with mysterious antagonists. Robust drums pound, guitars flash through distortion, and Morrissey's voice remains intact (tightened just a bit with age), leaping through the melodies and cascading into a melancholy warble.

By all accounts, his recent live shows, too, are characteristically energetic, despite some health issues. He canceled four shows on his European tour, and in October he collapsed on stage in England and was hospitalized for respiratory issues.

And this month in Liverpool, Morrissey ended the show when during the second song he was hit in the head with a beer bottle.

Drama does tend to gravitate to the singer, though.

After just four albums, The Smiths broke up when Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr couldn't patch a growing rift. There have been rumors of a Smiths reunion, but Morrissey continues to deny them, in fact implying that the end of his music career, solo and otherwise, may be coming.

In a February interview with U.K. radio station Xfm, Morrissey said it was unlikely he would still be performing at the age of 60.

"It's very interesting that it's very hard to think of anyone who ages and still manages to mean anything," he said.

Morrissey's fans — young and old — might beg to differ.

Joanna Horowitz: jbhorowitz@gmail.com