British musician Morrissey is bringing his music to the Sydney Opera House for Vivid 2015 – and his staunchly anti-meat stance will be applied to the entire venue.

As per the singer’s request, the venue has confirmed meat will not be served in the catered venues associated with the concert hall or backstage, on the dates of his only Australian appearance at the festival of light, music and ideas, 26, 27 May and 30, 31 May.

Morrissey has been a vegetarian since he was 11 years old, and in 1985 while lead singer of indie rock band the Smiths, the band released an album titled Meat is Murder. In interviews he has likened eating meat to “spiritual and physical rape” telling Billboard, “you eats its breasts ... its rump ... you cut off its genitals ... whichever way you care to look at it, eating animals is violence at its most extreme.”

In more recent times the 55-year-old singer has requested meat bans on several venues, with Los Angeles’ Staples centre closing their McDonalds outlets during his 2013 performance. Earlier this month he cancelled shows in Iceland after the Harpa concert hall refused to comply with his requests it go meat-free.

In a statement Ben Marshall, curator of Vivid Live called the artist “uniquely gifted and inimitably stylish” and said he has “vivid teenage memories of his face all over lever-arch files in high school.”

Demand for Morrissey’s Sydney shows are expected to be high, with tickets released via ballot. Hopeful concertgoers can apply online on 2 March, closing three days later.

2015 marks the seventh year for Vivid festival, and will begin on 22 May. Morrissey follows previous high-profile musical headliners for the festival, including the Pixies, Pet Shop Boys, Kraftwerk, Florence and the Machine and the National.