When a slender, 28-year-old Oscar Wilde-lover graced the cover of the NME in February 1988 – minus his shirt – the nation’s newsagents were stormed. More sensationally, inside, Steven Patrick Morrissey – who had just embarked on his solo career after four and a half years fronting the Smiths – surmised that he would be dead in two years’ time.

Yet it’s 2009, and, to paraphrase Morrissey himself, the soil still hasn’t fallen over his head. If anything, Britain’s most notorious vegetarian is looking more alive – and beefier – than ever. On May 22 he turns 50, and, midway through his current tour, will mark the occasion with a sell-out homecoming gig at Manchester Apollo.

Shyness (even the “criminally vulgar” variety) is clearly a thing of the past for the middle-aged Moz, who shed still more vestments to promote the first single from new album Years of Refusal earlier this year, posing with nothing but a vinyl seven-inch on the inner sleeve. But while the sight of Morrissey baring all at 49 may not induce quite the level of hysteria of that NME cover, a legion of devotees continue to stand by their angst-ridden idol whatever the press, music industry or his former bandmates say about him.

The Manchester misfit has 13,304 friends on his official Facebook page, academics pondered his stance on Linguistic Identity and Urban Regeneration at last month’s Morrissey Symposium in Limerick, and Bavarian musician Perrecy performs his songs in German, accompanied by a ukulele.

Morrissey admirers range from rockabilly Latino lookalikes to pasty-faced indie kids who were barely foetal when Mozzer first warbled his way onto the scene. Perhaps the most ardent specimens – those most likely to be seen openly weeping at concerts, or spending Friday night in Outpatients after an ill-judged stage dive – are heterosexual males in their mid to late thirties.

Thirty-eight-year-old Hugh Clark from West Lothian contracted pneumonia while following Moz’s 1999 winter tour round Britain in a tent, and last year was handcuffed under the Terrorism Act for attempting to shake his hero’s hand. Just weeks ago his 18-year marriage ended, after his wife asked him to choose between Morrissey and her.

Clark’s case is extreme but countless other examples prove that Moz fervour is thriving, and evolving. Tina Lamour and Verity Clarkson’s bi-annual tribute night invites Smiths nuts to “dance their legs down to their knees”, Craig Gill of the Inspiral Carpets moonlights as a guide on the “Mozbus” tour of Manchester, and in Paris Guillaume Metayer runs the Morrissey French Fans Forum.

Although Morrissey is entering his sixth decade – and threatening to retire at 55 – these pictures show fans’ ardour for the Handsome Devil who makes them feel “not quite so deformed” has barely dimmed since they stripped newsagents of the NME 21 years ago.

Verity Clarkson, far left, and Tina Lamour, both 32, are running a birthday version of their tribute night “November Spawned A Mozzer” in Brighton on May 15: “It’s a Smiths and Morrissey disco with cakes, bunting and a shrine,” explains Tina. “We also have an art competition, so Moz fans can spend all night in the corner perfecting a cardboard quiff or a Plasticine Girlfriend in a Coma.” Verity remembers liking Morrissey from a young age: “My parents would moan, ‘It’s that man on the telly again who can’t sing.’” Tina doesn’t mind that her hero has filled out a bit on reaching half a century: “Now he’s got brawn and brains, he’s perfect!” www.myspace.com/novemberspawnedamozzer

The Smiths Indeed are a Liverpool-based covers band: “We aim to recapture the atmosphere and excitement of a mid-Eighties Smiths concert, with flowers, spectacles, open shirts, triumphant sing-alongs and glowing faces,” says singer and Morrissey impersonator Jurgen Wendelen, 32 (pictured). “Our ‘Unhappy Birthday’ tour across the UK will finish with a gig at Manchester Academy on Moz’s 50th – so people who couldn’t get tickets for the real thing can come and see us instead.” “Sometimes audience members ask for autographs, and a few have burst into tears,” adds drummer Paul Tsanos, 36.

Opposite: Tom Ladlow, 18, is a sixth-form pupil from Huntingdon. He has taken a part-time job to raise £300 for concert tickets and hotels in Manchester over the birthday weekend. “I know I’m young for a Morrissey fan, but I find most music today sounds manufactured and rubbish. The Smiths were the first group I could relate to.” Two years ago, Tom’s best friend, Warren, was killed in a traffic accident. He believes Morrissey’s lyrics have helped him come to terms with the loss: “They showed me that there was a way through, and that things do get better.”

Dickie Felton, 35, from Liverpool, is releasing his new book, The Day I Met Morrissey, to coincide with Morrissey’s 50th: “It presents the experiences of his most obsessive fans – people who travel the world, hang around the stage door hours before a gig, or visit his mother’s house in the hope of speaking to their idol.” Dickie is no stranger to Moz Mania himself: “He signed my arm in Michigan and I got it tattooed straight afterwards – my wife was none too happy.” www.thedayimetmorrissey.com

Craig Gill, 37 – better known as the Inspiral Carpets’ drummer – hosts “MozBus” tours with Morrissey biographer Phill Gatenby, 46. Over the birthday weekend they will ferry Smiths fans across Manchester, taking in such lyrically resonant landmarks as the Iron Bridge and Salford Lads’ Club: “Sometimes genuine Salford lads will pose for photos.” Gatenby encourages passengers to chat, “so no one has to stand on their own, and leave on their own”. Compared to touring with the Carpets, Craig finds the MozBus trips “shorter, and not so full of sweaty socks”.

Guillaume Metayer, 36, runs the Morrissey French Fans Forum from his hometown of Paris, and has seen the singer live more than 100 times since 1991. In 2004, he tore the ligaments in his knee trying to jump on stage. He will attend at least 17 shows across Europe on the current tour, rising early each morning to be in the queue by 8am: “That way I can be in the front row, and be in contact with him.” He attributes his high standard of English to Morrissey: “I always read the lyrics before listening to the music, with my Collins dictionary by my side.”

Leah Kardos, 29, is a music technology lecturer in Bedford. Her tattoo reads, “Don’t forget the songs that made you cry and the songs that saved your life.” “It’s from Rubber Ring – I had it done after seeing Moz in 2006. My students tease me, but I don’t mind.” She’s intrigued by the crowds at his gigs: “There’s a peculiar rivalry between fans; it’s as though everyone wants him all for themselves. It can get very rough at the front.” But it hasn’t put her and friend Liz off trying to “stage invade” at his Cambridge concert: “We’re determined to touch the hem of his shirt.”

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