Acclaimed English guitarist, Johnny Marr has released a statement to clear accusations by, former bandmate, Morrissey. Both were key members of seminal 80’s indie rock band, The Smiths.
Hostilities between these two band fellows have been building for a while, with Morrissey making claims on his website Morrissey Central. He has been posting messages from Morrissey in the third person within a segment called Messages from Morrissey.
What were Morrissey’s claims?
Taken directly from his website: Morrissey posted on 29th August 2024, “In June 2024 AEG Entertainment Group 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.”
Subsequently, on 16th September 2024, Morrissey made the following claim: “J Marr has successfully applied for 100% trademark rights / Intellectual Property ownership of The Smiths name. His application has been accepted on whatever oaths or proclamations he has put forward. This action was done without any consultation to Morrissey, and without allowing Morrissey the standard opportunity of ‘objection’. Amongst many other things, this means that Marr can now tour as The Smiths using the vocalist of his choice, and it also prohibits Morrissey from using the name whilst also denying Morrissey considerable financial livelihood. Morrissey alone created the musical unit name ‘The Smiths’ in May 1982.”
How did Johnny Marr react?
Johnny Marr, ignoring Morrissey’s provocations in the past, made a rare rebuff on 17th September 2024 by releasing a statement. He countered the tour comment Morrissey made as well as recent claims about the ownership of The Smiths trademark. Johnny Marr is attempting to set the record straight, as his management released the following:
Rejecting Morrissey’s account of ignoring the tour offer, Marr bluntly asserted he had outrightly said no to it.
Seemingly, there is animosity on both sides. As the proverb goes, “there are two sides of every story” and it would be wise to take Morrissey’s comments with a pinch of salt. With this only proving there will be no reunion of The Smiths any time soon. We can understand, with the recent spate of reunions including Oasis, Blur and Pulp all profiting from nostalgia sales, Morrissey could be looking for a piece of that action. He has been embarking on a tour of his own in America, and we haven’t read any comments from Mike Joyce (The Smiths’ drummer) about this either. As nice as it would be to have The Smiths back together, with the passing of their original bassist Andrew Rourke in 2023, we wouldn’t have the full band in-tact. Would it be the reunion we want if there are so many unprovoked exchanges like this?
Rest assured, if you’re in the mood to listen to something by Johnny Marr, you can always check out the re-release of Johnny Marr + the Healers 2003 album Boomslang. It will include 7 brand new tracks and will be available to buy on Friday 20th September 2024 via BMG.
