Morrissey: Johnny Marr Has Rights To The Smiths’ Name
We thought we had overcome the fraternal diatribes between the two Gallaghers with the reunion of Oasis, but suddenly a new archive of “arguments” between former bandmates is filled with facts. This time the protagonists are Morrissey And Johnny Marrfrontman and guitarist of the glorious Smithsbut no longer “friends” for a long time.
After Morrissey previously claimed that Johnny Marr turned down the chance to reunite The Smiths for a big tour, the band’s frontman now claims that the guitarist has acquired the rights to the band’s name.
While the financial terms of the offer were not disclosed, Morrissey released a statement on his website saying he accepted on “lucrative” terms.
Let’s retrace the stages of this story.
Morrissey said Marr turned down the opportunity to reunite the band for the first time since their split in 1987. A statement on his website, published in late August, read: “In June 2024, AEG Entertainment Group made a lucrative offer to both Morrissey (he always refers to himself in the third person) and Marr to tour worldwide as ‘The Smiths’ through 2025. Morrissey said yes to the offer; Marr ignored it.”
The message issued on behalf of the iconic Manchester band’s former frontman concluded with a not-so-kind observation about Marr’s solo career, stating: “Morrissey will be undertaking a sell-out US tour in November. Marr continues to tour as a special guest of New Order.”
Then, on September 11, Morrissey shared a further update on his website stating that Marr had blocked the Smiths from releasing a new compilation album. The statement began: “The proposed Smiths greatest hits album entitled “Smiths Rule OK!” was blocked by J. Marr. The album and the single “Hand In Glove” were due out in 2024 from Warner Records, along with a deluxe box set of the Smiths’ first album to commemorate its 40th anniversary and a new 7-inch of “This Charming Man“”.
It continues: “Warner approached Morrissey and Darren Evans to assemble the artwork for the four releases, all of which were rejected and blocked out of hand by J. Marr.”
The last episode of the “drama” aired on September 15th when Morrissey released another statement on his website, titled “The Plot Thickens” (“The plot thickens”). The post states that: “J Marr successfully claims 100% trademark/IP rights to The Smiths name. His request was granted on the basis of any oath or proclamation he submitted.” The message also states that “this action was taken without any consultation with Morrissey, and without affording Morrissey the normal opportunity to ‘object.'”
The singer also claims that the trademark acquisition allows Marr to “tour as The Smiths using a singer of his choosing.” He adds that the new deal “prohibits Morrissey from using the name as well as considerable financial support.” The statement concludes that the Smiths name was created in May 1982 by Morrissey “single-handedly” without the assistance of his bandmates.
If Morrissey’s claim about this deal is true, Marr may indeed have the opportunity to tour under the Smiths name without the frontman’s involvement, but that doesn’t necessarily mean he intends to do so. In fact, he may have even purchased the “brand” to prevent an unwelcome return, also in light of the guitarist’s negative responses to the possibility of a reunion with his former partner.
Additionally, Morrissey recently shared an interview with the Kiss frontman on his website Gene Simmons, who begged the frontman to tour as The Smiths regardless of whether Marr was in the group. “Get rid of the guitar player. Nobody cares. They just want to hear the songs,” he told Forbes as advice to Morrissey. Simmons also suggested that the average ticket buyer probably wouldn’t even know who Marr was and would only care about hearing the hits, saying, “If you go out on the street, with all due respect to Johnny Marr, and ask ordinary people, ‘Who’s Johnny Marr?’ they won’t know who you’re talking about.”
It’s a shame, though, that fans who know who Marr is would flock to a Smith concert.
