Morrissey instructed his Smiths ex-bandmate Johnny Marr not to mention him in interviews. “using my name as clickbait,”In an open letter Published on his website.
While Morrissey insists the letter, published Tuesday, Jan. 25, isn’t a “rant or a hysterical bombast,”As he tells Marr, some of his grandiose tendencies do thrive. “We haven’t known each other for 35 years — which is many lifetimes ago,” Moz writes. “When we met you and I were not successful. We both helped each other become what it is we are today. Can you not just leave it at that? Must you persistently, year after year, decade after decade, blame me for everything … from the 2007 Solomon Islands tsunami to the dribble on your grandma’s chin?”
It’s unclear what exactly Marr did that piqued Morrissey’s ire. Marr is obviously asked regularly about his time with Morrissey and the Smiths because it’s only natural people remain intrigued by such a beloved, generation-defining group. The GuardianHowever, he did mention one source that could be recent, a new interview.Uncutmagazine, in which Marr noted he’s close with everyone he’s ever collaborated with — except Morrissey.
Morrissey was determined to end the Marr affair, regardless of what Marr might have said. “leave me out of it. The fact is: you don’t know me. 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.”
Morrissey was also a part of six years spent together making music. “If I was, as you claim, such an eyesore monster, where exactly did this leave you Kidnapped? Mute? Chained? Abducted by cross-eyed extraterrestrials? It was YOU who played guitar on ‘Golden Lights’ — not me.”
Morrissey wrote his closing letter. “Our period together was many lifetimes ago, and a lot of blood has streamed under the bridge since then. There comes a time when you must take responsibility for your own actions and your own career, with which I wish you good health to enjoy. Just stop using my name as clickbait. I have not ever attacked your solo work or your solo life, and I have openly applauded your genius during the days of Louder than Bombs and Strangeways, Here We Come, yet you have positioned yourself ever-ready as rent-a-quote whenever the press requires an ugly slant on something I half-said during the last glacial period as the Colorado River began to carve out the Grand Canyon. Please stop.It is 2022, not 1982.”
Marr responded on Twitter with a succinct reply, quipping: “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?”(A Marr representative did not immediately respond. Rolling Stone’s request for additional comment.)
Dear @officialmoz . An ‘open letter’ hasn’t really been a thing since 1953, It’s all ‘social media’ now. This one even Donald J Trump knew. Also, this fake news business…a bit 2021 yeah ?#makingindiegreatagain
— Johnny Marr (@Johnny_Marr) January 26, 2022