Johnny Marr was part of the iconic English rock band, The Smiths, consisting of himself, Morrissey, Andy Rourke, and Mike Joyce. The band was co-founded by Marr and Morrissey and had a brief but successful run from 1982 to 1987. The band split due to tensions among the band members, particularly the co-founders.
Over the years, fans have hoped for a reunion of the band. On August 25, 2024, after speculation emerged that Oasis - another band known for tensions among its band members, might reunite - a fan going by the moniker Layne on X, posted the following in hopes of The Smiths reuniting:
"If Oasis can do it The Smiths can too (I'm delusional)"
Trending
In response to his message, Johnny Marr posted a picture of British politician and Member of Parliament for Clacton, Nigel Farage, with a pint in his hand.
Johnny Marr had previously mentioned Nigel Farage as well, when asked about whether or not The Smiths would reunite. In 2016, Morrissey came out in support of the Brexit referendum and hailed Nigel Farage as a 'liberal educator', in an interview with Faster Louder, on October 21, 2016:
"Liberal educators such as George Galloway and Nigel Farage. they are loathed by the BBC because both men respect equal freedom for all people, and they are not remotely intimidated by the BBC."
Marr responded to his comments on Sky News on November 1, 2016 and dismissed the possibility of a reunion, pointing out that the ideological differences between himself and Morrissey would be another drawback to a possible reunion:
"I can only really speak for myself, I don’t feel like it’s necessary at all really. I really like moving forward. Myself and Andy (Rourke) 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."
Marr responded to Morrisey's comments about Farage:
“I always forget about that. 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."
Johnny Marr rebuffed the possibility of a reunion of The Smiths in 2019
In 2019, Johnny Marr further rebuffed the possibility of a reunion of The Smiths. In response to rumours of a possible reunion with The Smiths, a fan asked Marr to confirm whether it was true or false:
The singer responded with the following tweet:
Johnny Marr also spoke about the band and its legacy and how Morrissey and his pro-right politics might affect it, a month after the above tweet exchange, in an exclusive interview with NME on May 6, 2019. In response to a question on whether he was worried about Morrissey's music being banned in record stores at the time, resulting in people missing out on The Smiths and their music, he said:
"No. I don’t think you can change history. I’ve said that before. I’m not worried. It’s got nothing to do with my world or my life. The songs are out there for people to judge, relate to and hear. I think that’s all going to be forgotten in a few weeks, as these things inevitably are – for better or worse. It’s always been that way..."
He went on to state that he was used to things fading in and out of public consciousness and that he was not worried about people missing out on culture due to any controversy.
Johnny Marr released his latest studio album, Fever Dreams Pts 1–4, on February 25, 2022. The album was well-received and went on to peak at the 4th spot on the UK chart.
