Heroes to Zeros: What caused Morrissey’s feud with Sparks?
Disagreements, feuds, and arguments are certainly not a rarity within the music industry. From the Britpop battle of Oasis and Blur, to the post-Beatles spat between John Lennon and Paul McCartney, few artists are free from rivalries. However, Morrissey seems particularly adept at making enemies. In past years, the former Smiths songwriter has espoused some controversial political views, causing a rift between the songwriter and many of his fellow musicians, fans, and contemporaries.
Morrissey has never made a tremendous effort to make friends within the music industry. Even back in the heyday of The Smiths, he could regularly be found in the pages of the New Musical Express, harshly criticising virtually every single that had been released that week. Indeed, his disdain for normality and the mainstream was part of the singer’s appeal for many years. He provided a voice for the outcasts and odd-balls of society, and The Smiths remain a beloved band for isolated teens and anybody who has always felt a little different to everybody else.
In the past few decades, however, Morrissey’s outspoken views have gone from endearing to downright insulting. He had regularly echoed right-wing talking points, particularly with regard to his anti-immigration stance, going so far as to call Chinese people “a sub-species” due to the nation’s stance on animal rights. Following revelations of sexual misconduct by actor Kevin Spacey, the singer spoke disparagingly about the actor’s accuser, saying, “When you are in somebody’s bedroom, you have to be aware of where that can lead.” A comment which is an insult to abuse survivors across the globe.
Inevitably, it has become virtually impossible to laud the former Smiths singer as the indie hero he once was. What’s more, his increasingly controversial views have caused a rift between Morrissey and some of his former friends in the music industry, such as Sparks. During his youth, the songwriter was said to have been a huge fan of Sparks, the enduring outfit fronted by brothers Ron and Russell Mael. How, then, did we get to the point where Morrissey called Sparks “headless Palisades” only a few days ago?
How did the feud between Sparks and Morrissey begin?
In 2008, Sparks wrote the satirical track ‘Lighten Up, Morrissey’, for their 2008 record Exotic Creatures of the Deep. As the pair attested to, the song was never meant as an insult to the famously miserable songwriter. Speaking to Q Magazine, Russell Mael shared, “We wanted to head any possible misunderstanding off at the pass and we got Morrissey a copy of it early on.” Explaining, “He loved it and was apparently playing it before some of his shows.”
In a later interview with Songfacts, the vocalist added, “He has a sense of humour enough to like the spirit of that song. He likes Sparks so much that he can bypass that.” Seemingly, then, Morrissey had no issue with the 2008 track. However, a decade later, Mael spoke to the Press Association, distancing himself from Morrissey’s outspoken political views. “I’m totally in agreement with anybody being disillusioned [with Morrissey] because I am as well,” he said.
He went on to add, “It seemed so inconsistent, all these perspectives that he has on those various issues, just stupid, dumb kind of things. I obviously don’t agree with any of these things. They’re just so ill-conceived and wrong.” It was this quote which appeared to spark the feud between Morrissey and the duo.
Morrissey was later asked whether Mael’s comments had disappointed him, to which he responded, “Amazingly, no, because I’m quite used to it.” Continuing, “I stood by Sparks for many years, and I promoted them in my own humble way whenever I could, and they were famously people without opinions so I was surprised that they kicked me in the teeth. It came across as an almost fiendish ingratitude.”
“They will always be important to me as a memory,” the ‘Suedehead’ singer concluded. Despite his claims that Sparks’ comments hadn’t bothered him, they certainly stuck in his head. On March 26th, 2025 – seven years since Russell Mael made those remarks about Morrissey – the songwriter shared a selection of old photographs to his Instagram page. Among them was a photo of a handwritten letter from Ron and Russell Mael, which seemed to have accompanied some demo tapes – likely of ‘Lighten Up, Morrissey’.
In the caption of the post, Morrissey wrote, “A nice note from Ron and Russell Mael – before they turned into headless Palisades savages who threw their old friends into hot molten lava for sexy kicks.” At the time of writing, Sparks have yet to make reply to this comment, but it seems as though Russell’s comments from all those years ago still sting for the former Smiths singer.
Whether or not there is still genuine bad blood between the two artists remains unclear. Sparks were never vicious or confrontational in their comments about Morrissey, but calling the beloved brothers “headless Palisades” seems a little too extreme to be written off as being part of Morrissey’s famously dry sense of humour. In any case, the lyrics of Sparks’ 2008 track still ring true nearly two decades later.
