Smiths Reunion Drama
Morrissey recently revealed he got a big offer from AEG Entertainment to bring the Smiths back together with Johnny Marr, but Marr turned it down.
In a new statement, Marr clarified that he didn’t just ignore the offer; he actually said no.
This news comes over a year after Andy Rourke, the bassist for the Smiths and Marr’s childhood friend, passed away after battling pancreatic cancer. Any real reunion seems impossible now since drummer Mike Joyce has been estranged from Morrissey and Marr since their messy 1996 lawsuit over royalties.
Fans really wish these guys could just get along again.
Morrissey also claimed Marr took control of the Smiths trademark and can replace him as the singer. He says this was done without asking him and it stops him from using the name, hurting his income. Morrissey says he created the name “The Smiths” back in May 1982.
Marr’s team says this isn’t exactly right. They mentioned an outside group tried to use the Smiths name in 2018, hinting at a semi-reunion show with Joyce, Rourke, and Craig Gannon that never happened. After that, Marr contacted Morrissey’s team to protect the band’s name together.
Since Morrissey didn’t reply, Marr went ahead and registered the trademark himself. Marr’s management said it was agreed with Morrissey’s lawyers that this was for both Morrissey and Marr. As a goodwill gesture, Marr signed joint ownership to Morrissey in January 2024. Now they’re just waiting for Morrissey to sign.
“To stop others from making money off the band’s name, I had to protect our legacy,” Marr said. “I’ve done this for myself and my old bandmates.”
Morrissey and Marr haven’t been close since the Smiths broke up in 1987. They did meet in 2008 to talk about reuniting the band. Marr wrote in his memoir that it seemed possible, and it could even be great. But after four days of thinking about it, Marr left to tour with the Cribs in Mexico, and then communication stopped. Marr said things went back to how they were before, and probably always will be.
