Johnny Marr has announced he has signed a new worldwide album deal with the music publisher BMG. The company has represented the former Smiths guitarist as a songwriter for many years, publishing his last three solo albums: 2013’s ‘The Messenger’, 2014’s ‘Playland’ and 2018’s ‘Call The Comet’.

Marr stated that he was “very pleased to be working with the people at BMG on this new chapter. It’s a good feeling.”

. @Johnny_Marr signs new worldwide album deal with @BMGukhttps://t.co/NFDBtcD2Nh pic.twitter.com/vNkeTt0Y7f

— Music Week (@MusicWeek) August 3, 2021

Alistair Norbury, BMG President Repertoire & Marketing UK also added: “BMG have proudly represented Johnny Marr as a songwriter for many years, including publishing his three consecutive top 10 solo albums. The fact that he has decided to expand and deepen his relationship with BMG shows how well our holistic, artist-centric approach works. We are delighted to be the releasing partner for this outstanding new body of work.”

The Manchester guitarist and songwriter is currently working on new music in the studio, and is set to play a string of intimate tour dates in the UK in September.

Those gigs will serve as a warm-up for his support slot at the Courteeners’ sold-out show at Manchester’s Old Trafford Cricket Ground on September 25.

The musician actually hasn’t performed on stage since 2018 at the BRIT Awards when he joined Billie Eilish and Hans Zimmer for their performance of ‘No Time To Die’, the Bond theme for the latest 007 movie set for release in September.