Oasis may be returning in 2025, but anyone hoping that fellow Mancunian indie legends The Smiths might follow suit would be advised not to hold their breath for a reconciliation between Morrissey and Johnny Marr.
News of Liam and Noel Gallagher burying the hatchet in order to embark upon a massive reunion tour next summer has prompted some fans of The Smiths to voice their hopes that vocalist Morrissey and guitarist Marr might settle their differences too. But, without actually saying a single words to shoot down this possibility, Johnny Marr has made it crystal clear that this won’t be happening.
When a X user called Layne posted a tweet saying, “If Oasis can do it The Smiths can too (I’m delusional)”, Marr responded by posting a photo of Reform UK leader and MP for Clacton Nigel Farage, a cryptic but easily decoded reference to his former Smiths bandmate Morrissey, who has expressed a number of right-wing political opinions in recent years. Back in 2019, when fans expressed hopes of a Smiths reunion, Marr responded with a social media post saying, “Nigel Farage on guitar”.
There is no love lost between Marr and Morrissey, who parted company back in 1987, when The Smiths broke up.
In 2022, Morrissey posted an ‘open letter’ to Marr on his website, asking, “Would you please stop mentioning my name in your interviews?”
“The fact is: you don’t know me,” Morrissey added. “You know nothing of my life, my intentions, my thoughts, my feelings. Yet you talk as if you were my personal psychiatrist with consistent and uninterrupted access to my instincts.
“We haven’t known each other for 35 years – which is many lifetimes ago. When we met you and I were not successful. We both helped each other become whatever it is we are today. Can you not just leave it at that?”
Marr responded to the post by writing, “An ‘open letter’ hasn’t really been a thing since 1953, It’s all ‘social media’ now. Even Donald J Trump had that one down. Also, this fake news business… a bit 2021 yeah?” adding the hashtag ‘makingindiegreatagain’.