Who broke up The Smiths?
The story of an iconic band’s warring leaders is a pretty exhausted tale. Whether it’s Pink Floyd, Oasis, or The Beatles, the hallmarks of greatness seem to be steeped in personal tension. And while The Smiths – and particularly Morrissey – marketed themselves as being the ultimate contrarians, they rather predictably also fell into the rut of inter-band turmoil.
After signing with Rough Trade in 1983, the band had a relatively speedy rise with their debut self-titled LP, followed by their critically acclaimed 1985 Meat Is Murder, The Queen Is Dead in 1986, and their final full-length studio release Strangeways, Here We Come, released a year later in 1987.
Within this discography, Morrissey established himself as a witty and thoughtful social commentator, while Marr was thrust forward as one of the decade’s most innovative guitar players. His arpeggiated chord progressions and intricate melody building brought a soft and inquisitive nuance to Morrissey’s otherwise cutting and dark lyrics. This allowed them to deftly straddle familiarity and difference, spearheading a decade of sonic change that future bands like The Stone Roses and Oasis could build on.
However, the very contradiction of Marr and Morrissey’s style ultimately spoke to deeper conflicts that existed within the band. After the release of Strangeways, Here We Come, the band decided to call it a day and ended their prolific rise, which to this day has never been followed up.
Marr officially left the band in June of 1987, with some stories suggesting he simply decided to take a break from the group, citing that he was exhausted from the relentless schedule of writing, recording and touring. Underneath that exhaustion was also a musician who was becoming increasingly disillusioned with the more ballad-style approach on their most recent album, sidelining Marr’s signature guitar sound. But alternative rumours swirled, suggesting that the remaining members were disgruntled with Marr for working with other musicians.
An article was published in NME soon after, titled, ‘The Smiths to split’, which Marr assumed had been planted by Morrissey. The article alluded to the idea that the band did indeed split because of the band’s frustration with Marr’s collaboration elsewhere, but he soon contacted the publication to refute those claims.
But in 1992, Marr spoke of a more particular reason for the band’s split that alluded to a more general sense of creative difference. According to Marr, the final straw came when Morrissey insisted that the group do covers of artists from the 1960s: “That was the last straw, really. I didn’t form a group to perform Cilla Black songs,” he said.
However, in 2016, Morrissey claimed that the band lacked a managerial figure during the heady days of their success, causing financial and business problems. In 2016, Marr told The Guardian, upon reflection, his bandmember was right and that the string of managers they did sack left the administrative responsibilities of the band weighing heavy on his shoulders.
“It’s what split the band up. To this day, I haven’t met anyone who thinks a major rock group should be managed by the 23-year-old guitar player,” Marr said. “We were deemed unmanageable. When we fired managers, I always had to deal with it. I wasn’t prepared to do it, and so it became untenable. There was no way forward.”
In 2018, Marr once again addressed the break-up, saying the specific details of management problems and creative differences led to the dissolution of the band rather than the more speculative term of miscommunication that was freely being banded around in describing the event. That year, he told Rolling Stone: “The band wouldn’t break up just because of miscommunication. I wouldn’t have left my own band that I formed and put my life into just because of a misunderstanding, you know? It was untenable. And I felt like I was left with no choice, and that’s fine. That’s absolutely alright, and yes, it was very sad, but it was meant to be.”
He continued to confirm what we all now know to be true; that while their warring personalities forged to create greatness in the band’s early days, it ultimately grew into something that would block any forward progress for the band.
Adding, “The differences in personalities are what often make for interesting chemistry, and, inevitably, [with] the differences in personality come [the] point when those things are gonna stop forward motion, I guess. I suppose as well; me and Morrissey just saw our futures differently.”
So, what about a reunion tour?
Like many iconic bands, rumours of a Smiths reunion have run rife for years now. But last year, they gained particular attention when Morrissey announced that Marr had reportedly turned down an offer to get the band back together. In June 2024, Morrissey announced on his website, “AEG Entertainment Group made a lucrative offer to both Morrissey and Marr to tour worldwide as ‘The Smiths’ throughout 2025. Morrissey said Yes to the offer; Marr ignored the offer.”
The message underhandedly concluded with, “Morrissey undertakes a largely sold-out tour of the USA in November. Marr continues to tour as a special guest to New Order.”
On September 11th, Morrissey shared a further update on his website that claimed Marr had prevented The Smiths from releasing a new compilation record, which Marr later confirmed to be true due to the vast number of greatest hits they have previously released.
Days later, on September 15th, Morrissey issued another post on his website titled ‘The Plot Thickens’. The post claimed: “J Marr has successfully applied for 100% trademark rights / Intellectual Property ownership of The Smiths name. His application has been accepted on whatever oaths or proclamations he has put forward.”
The message also stated, “This action was done without any consultation to Morrissey, and without allowing Morrissey the standard opportunity of ‘objection’.”
It continued that Marr had acquired the trademark to “tour as The Smiths using the vocalist of his choice”, which he later claimed “prohibits Morrissey from using the name while also denying Morrissey considerable financial livelihood.”
Given the nature of Morrissey’s scathing public attack, Marr responded via a statement shared by his spokesperson. It read: “Here are the facts: In 2018, following an attempt by a third party to use The Smiths’ name – and upon discovery that the trademark was not owned by the band – Marr reached out to Morrissey via his representatives to work together in protecting The Smiths’ name.”
The spokesperson continued, “A failure to respond led Marr to register the trademark himself. It was subsequently agreed with Morrissey’s lawyers that this trademark was held for the mutual benefit of Morrissey & Marr.”
They then outlined that Morrissey had been contacted, stating, “As a gesture of goodwill, in January 2024, Marr signed an assignment of joint ownership to Morrissey. Execution of this document still requires Morrissey to sign.”
While fans were pleased to gain some understanding of the band’s legalities, they ultimately cared more about the rumours of a tour, which Marr was sure to address in his statement. In a bold letter, he simply remarked: “As for the offer to tour, I didn’t ignore the offer – I said no.”
