Morrissey has claimed his former bandmate Johnny Marr “ignored” a “lucrative offer” to reform The Smiths for a global tour in 2025.
The band, who formed in Manchester in 1982, produced four albums which arguably redefined British guitar music before an acrimonious split in 1987.
A statement on Morrissey’s website, titled “war is old, art is young”, said the singer “said yes” to an offer by AEG Entertainment Group to tour as The Smiths throughout 2025, but “Marr ignored the offer”.
The guitarist has not responded, but dismissed a suggestion The Smiths should reform in the wake of the Oasis reunion by posting an image of Reform UK leader and Clacton MP Nigel Farage, a reference to his perception of Morrissey’s political views.
Fans have hoped for decades that the pair would reunite and rumours of any potential thawing in their relationship over the years have been met with excited speculation.
However, the pair have had a difficult relationship since the guitarist left a few weeks before the release of The Smiths’ final album in 1987, citing Morrissey’s lack of flexibility.
The singer was understood to be equally frustrated and annoyed that Marr was playing with other groups.
That rift has become a chasm in recent years, with their reported political leanings adding to the animosity.
Marr wrote about his sporadic meetings with Morrissey since The Smiths split in his 2016 autobiography and claimed there had been a “real prospect” of a reunion in 2008, but the singer rebuffed the idea.
In the same year, he told Sky News he believed Morrissey’s views aligned with the then-UKIP leader’s on Brexit, before posting in 2019 that their similarity would see any Smiths reunion feature “Nigel Farage on guitar”.
In 2022, a year after castigating The Simpsons for using him as the basis for a character who had become a meat-eating, overweight xenophobe, Morrissey published an open letter to Marr, calling on him to stop using the singer’s name as “clickbait” and stop blaming him for everything from a tsunami to “the dribble on your grandma’s chin”.
The latest statement from Morrissey, who rarely speaks to the media, said the live music promoter “made a lucrative offer to both Morrissey and Marr to tour worldwide as ‘The Smiths’ throughout 2025”.
“Morrissey said Yes to the offer; Marr ignored the offer,” it said, beneath a picture of the pair during their time together in The Smiths.
“Morrissey undertakes a largely sold out tour of the USA in November.
“Marr continues to tour as a special guest to New Order.”
Marr and AEG Entertainment have been approached for comment.
The statement led many fans of both Morrissey and Marr across the world to share their mixed feelings about a reunion on social media.
The Morrissey Mercury fanzine posted on X that the singer being “up for a reunion” was “quite astounding”, while the podcast Spaceman Pod said if the statement was a true reflection of what happened, their “already considerable respect for Johnny Marr has significantly increased”.
However, Mancunian writer and commentator Collete Walsh summed up the thoughts of many Smiths fans.
Sharing Morrissey’s statement, she said the fact the singer “even considered it” was “fascinating” and gave her “just a tiny bit of hope”.
“It would put the Oasis reunion a v low priority,” she added.
‘Non starter’
Music journalist John Robb, a bassist for the punk rock band The Membranes, said: “It looks like a complete non starter.
“I think Johnny doesn’t want the hassle, he has always been a guy who likes playing his guitar, he has never been interested in being the main man.
“Where does that leave The Smiths? It’s a dead duck. Then again, who would have thought eight days ago that Oasis were going to announce a reunion?
“They could wake up one morning and say ‘You know what, I think I will do it’.”
The songwriting partnership of Morrissey and Marr made their band one of the most important groups for a generation of music fans.
The pair have gone on to have successful solo careers, with Marr also playing with a huge range of artists, including Billy Bragg, Beck, Crowded House, Oasis, Pet Shop Boys and Girls Aloud.
The group’s other two members, Mike Joyce and Andy Rourke, later took legal action against the pair over royalties.
Rourke, who died in 2022, accepted an out-of-court settlement, while Joyce won a settlement of about £1m and a 25% share of future royalty earnings.
By BBC
