Johnny Marr Fires Back at Morrissey’s Trademark & Tour Claims: ‘It Was Left to Me to Protect the Legacy’

The tension is continuing to rise between Morrissey and his former The Smiths bandmate Johnny Marr.

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Marr’s management took to Instagram on Tuesday (Sept. 17) to refute a series of claims made by Morrissey over the past few weeks, including that Marr “ignored” an offer to tour as the Smiths next year, that he blocked an upcoming greatest hits album and that he acquired the trademark of the band’s name.

“Recent statements made by Morrissey on his website regarding the trademark of the Smiths’ name are incorrect,” the statement begins, before revealing that Marr reached out to Morrissey in 2018 after a “third party” attempted to use the band’s name “to work together in protecting The Smiths’ name.” The statement claims that Morrissey didn’t respond, leading Marr to register the trademark on his own. In January 2024, Marr reportedly “signed an assignment of joint ownership to Morrissey. Execution of this document still requires Morrissey to sign.”

The statement also includes a direct quote from Marr, which reads, “To prevent third parties from profiting from the band’s name, it was left to me to protect the legacy. This I have done on behalf of both myself and my former bandmates. As for the offer to tour, I didn’t ignore the offer – I said no.”

The post concluded by claiming that Marr was not planning to tour with another vocalist, and that he did decline the greatest hits album, “given the number already in existence.”

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Marr’s response comes a day after Morrissey shared a message on his website titled “The Plot Thickens,” where he claimed that Marr “successfully applied for 100% trademark rights / Intellectual Property ownership of The Smiths name,” which he alleges “was done without any consultation to Morrissey, and without allowing Morrissey the standard opportunity of ‘objection’.”

Morrissey added that due to the trademark rights, Marr can “now tour as The Smiths using the vocalist of his choice, and it also prohibits Morrissey from using the name whilst also denying Morrissey considerable financial livelihood,” before concluding, “Morrissey alone created the musical unit name ‘The Smiths’ in May 1982.”

The legendary British rockers broke up acrimoniously in 1987, after releasing four studio albums together.

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