Johnny Marr honoured as ‘Record Store Legend’ by Record Store Day
Ahead of Record Store Day on April 12th, Johnny Marr has been celebrated as a ‘Record Store Legend’.
This year, Marr is set to release the record store vinyl exclusive Look Out Live! for Record Store Day 2025. It was recorded at his show at Hammersmith Apollo in 2024, featuring a catalogue of his solo songs, hits by The Smiths, and a special performance of Electronic’s ‘Getting Away With It’ with Neil Tennant.
Now, Marr has become only the second artist in history to be honoured with a ‘Record Store Legend’ accolade after Elton John was previously bestowed with the award in 2017.
He has been awarded the honour thanks to his “commitment to championing record stores across multiple album campaigns, embodying the spirit and culture of record stores across the world. It is this ongoing collaboration that aims to pave the way for future artists and inspire them to build meaningful and supportive relationships with the indie sector.”
Additionally, Marr has received a plaque with his name on which is situated at Piccadilly Records in Manchester. The guitarist said of the plaque: “Going out to a record store, it’s a nice pastime. It’s a part of the culture, if they were to completely disappear, the high street or the city centre would be a much worse off place.”
The Smiths founder continued: “There’s something about the presence of a record store. It’s a magical thing. I’ve known the staff in Picadilly Records for 20 years…this plaque is a very nice thing to be associated with.”
Meanwhile, Andy McQueen of Piccadilly Records said, “Johnny Marr is our favourite living artist, and his music has soundtracked our lives for over forty years. To be associated with him in this beautiful way; well, the pleasure, the privilege is ours.”
Record Store Day is set to take place on April 12th with over 270 independent record shops from across the United Kingdom participating. Sam Fender was previously confirmed as the ambassador for Record Store Day 2025.
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