Veteran singer/songwriters James Taylor [ tickets ] and Carole King [ tickets ] will hit the road together next year on a far-ranging world tour, the first time the longtime pals have hooked up for a concert trip around the globe.

The "Troubadour Reunion" tour--which evolved out of a series of six performances the two old friends gave together in late 2007 to mark the 50th anniversary of West Hollywood, CA's historic Troubadour nightclub--kicks off March 27 in Melbourne, Australia. The outing winds through Australia, New Zealand and Japan before returning home for a May 14 concert at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.

Additional dates will be added in the coming days and weeks, according to organizers.

"This tour, our Troubadour Reunion, has been waiting to happen for a long time and the years seem to have vanished, where does the time go?" said Taylor in a press statement.

"When we reunited for the Troubadour's 50th anniversary celebration, it felt like yesterday. It was and still is all about the music and the songs that we get to perform together."

Taylor's most recent studio set, last fall's "Covers," debuted at No. 4 on The Billboard 200 with sales of 94,500 units its first week. Recorded during a 10-day session in Taylor's Massachusetts studio, "Covers" offers Taylor's versions of classic songs from a variety of artists, including Leonard Cohen, George Jones and The Temptations, among others.

"Other Covers," a seven-song companion set, surfaced in April. The disc features material that didn't fit on the first release, including remakes of Wilson Pickett's "In the Midnight Hour" and Eddie Floyd's "Knock on Wood."

King--whose most recent studio album was 2001's "Love Makes the World"--released a live DVD, "Welcome to My Living Room," in 2007. The set features 29 songs from her sold-out 2005-2006 Living Room World Tour, including 21 Top 40 hits, seven No. 1 singles and 11 tunes that didn't make her 2005 "Living Room Tour" live CD.