Credit: Hels Millington / Morrissey

Lauren Hunter

Mon 3 November 2025 12:24, UK

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The Smiths drummer Mike Joyce has said that his former frontman Morrissey seems “very angry about a lot of things.”

Joyce made his comments during a new interview with The Guardian, ahead of the release of his forthcoming memoir The Drums, when he was asked about his tenuous relationship with his ex-bandmate.

In terms of Morrissey’s right-wing political views and many controversial takes on social issues, the drummer hit back by saying: “From what I’ve gleaned, he’s certainly got very different politics to mine.”

However, he seemed to somewhat counter this by adding: “But that’s his opinion. He just seems very angry about a lot of things. Of course I hear it – people saying, ‘I can’t listen to the Smiths. I can’t separate the art from the artist.’ If that’s how you feel, that’s fine.”

When asked if he understands the viewpoints of those who no longer listen to the band on account of Morrissey’s politics, Joyce replied: “Not to me. But I’m listening to it from a very different perspective.”

Despite various feuds and legal battles having torn the band apart irreconcilably since their split in 1987, also notwithstanding the death of their bassist Andy Rourke, Joyce insisted that he still had the fondest memories of The Smiths and its frontman.

“I don’t want it to sound like I didn’t like Morrissey,” he reasoned. “He was fucking great. Very funny bloke, cutting humour. But it was such an unusual relationship. There was a distance. I accepted we were just very different people.”

Similarly, he also said the relationship between himself and Johnny Marr had improved under the tragic circumstances of Rourke’s passing, explaining that they civilly reunited at the funeral after a very long time of not being in contact. “It wasn’t tough when I saw him, it was just unusual, as I hadn’t spoken properly to Johnny for years and years. But we had a good chat there,” he said.

Joyce’s memoir, The Drums, is set to be released on November 6th, 2025.

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