HE IS coming home - Southampton singing superstar Craig David has announced his 2006 UK tour dates and a homecoming gig at the city's Guildhall is among them.

Craig told the Daily Echo he was particularly looking forward to playing in his home city, on Friday May 5.

"It's always great to be back home," he said.

"I've had a great time touring the world promoting this album, but I can't wait to play in England."

Tickets go on sale this morning at 9.30am with the Southampton gig expected to sell out in days.

The show is expected to include tracks from his latest album including Don't Love You No More (I'm Sorry) and All The Way, as well as old classics like Fill Me In and 7 Days.

Craig will play 13 dates on the UK leg of his tour, starting in Ipswich on April 26 and finishing in Nottingham on May 17.

World tour

His The Story Goes World Tour kicks off in Asia on April 8, followed by Japan before reaching the UK.

The 24-year-old returned to the world's music scene in Sept-ember 2005 with his multi-platinum selling third album The Story Goes, which has now sold more than a million copies.

Craig's return to the charts saw him at number one from Europe to Australasia with sales of his critically-acclaimed records topping 16 million globally.

Last year Craig officially became the UK's most successful soul writer and recording artist of all time when his third studio album spent a month as Europe's biggest selling R&B album.

The year ended on a high when he was nominated for the Best Urban Brit Award and won the prestigious Outstanding Achievement to British Urban Music award. His new single Unbelievable, an acoustic ballad about romance and promised love, is released on March 6.

Craig grew up on Southampton's Holy Rood estate and attended Bellemoor School in Shirley.