Update (5:50 p.m., Headline changed): According to a statement from the arena, it looks like Moz and his public relations goons went a little too hard on the whole meatless Staples thing. While the venue will be serving vegan Sloppy Joes, a grilled vegetable sandwich, cheese pizza, vegan sushi, cheese nachos, and veggie burgers at the March 1 concert — more of a flesh-free presence than usual — Morrissey did not win “a victory for the animals.” There will be meat and it will be eaten after all. We just hope no one has the audacity to blow any pepperoni-perfumed kisses toward the stage.

Original post: Influenced by his mother who refused to eat meat and demonstrated against lax hunting laws, legendary rock crooner Morrissey has been a vegetarian since the age of 11. He's always candidly communicated his distaste for animal flesh, whether singing “Meat is Murder” or stating, in a 1985 interview, that eating meat was “the most disgusting thing” he could think of, akin to “biting into your grandmother.”

In an unprecedented move, out of deference to the former Smiths frontman's convictions, the Staples Center will make Morrissey's March 1 concert an entirely vegetarian one. This means that, if you like to chase a healthy portion of morose pomp with a fat sandwich, you're going to have to go with the tempeh.

On March 1, the meatiest restaurants in and around the venue, including McDonald's, will go dark. A portion of the show's proceeds will benefit PETA. Cows in their crowded pastures along I-5 will huff a sigh of relief.

In his press statement about the concert, Morrissey, in characteristically grand fashion, said: “I don't look upon it as a victory for me, but a victory for the animals.” He has reason to be a bit haughty though. He gets to serenade 20,000 fans without fear that the smell of sputtering flesh might assault his nostrils, when an older and arguably more famous and canonized British musician — Sir Paul McCartney — once tried and failed to get the venue to make the same concessions concession.

And in related news:

– 5 Places In Los Angeles To Observe Meatless Monday

– Vegetarian Friendly: A Question of Hospitality, Economics and Pride

Credit: Man Alive, Flickr

Credit: Man Alive, Flickr

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