Johnny Marr Responds To Fan Question About Smiths Reunion
Johnny Marr has responded to a fan’s question about a possible reunion of The Smiths in the wake of Oasis reforming for gigs next year.
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The guitarist responded to the statement, “If Oasis can do it The Smiths can too (I’m delusional).” with a photograph of the MP for Clacton and leader of Reform UK, Nigel Farage, holding a pint of beer. The image suggests that the personal and political differences between Marr and former Smiths singer Morrissey make a Smiths reunion very unlikely. Back in 2016. Morrissey declared his support for Farage and Brexit, after which Marr told Sky News, that the pair “probably don’t have much ideologically in common any more”.
“I always forget about that,” Marr said. “That’s just stuff that I hear second hand. If it is the case that he’s pro-Farage, then there would be a slight drawback in that I think, as anyone can imagine.”
“I can only really speak for myself, I don’t feel like it’s necessary at all really,” Marr added when pressed about a reunion. “I really like moving forward. Myself and Andy (Rourke, bass player) play together when I’m over in New York…he plays a couple of songs with me and that’s always really nice, but that’s really as far as it needs to go I think.” Andy Rourke died in May 2023.
For his part, Morrissey has recently spoken about The Smiths, writing, “I am well aware of the Smiths’ rise in recent years, and their affirmed position in our cultural heritage,” he began. “It proves how taking risks can work beautifully… and if you don’t take risks when you make music then what the hell are you doing making music?
“We’re all in this together. It was always about a refusal to surrender to enemy propaganda – something I still face today just as much as I faced it in 1983, 84, 85, 86 and 87. The Smiths do not end.”