According to nme.com, Johnny Marr has talked about why he turned down an “eye-watering” amount of money for a Smiths reunion tour by saying he did so because the “vibe” was not right. The songwriter, guitarist and solo artist opened up about the decision during his appearance on Stick to Football, where he looked back at his time forming the band as a teenager and his decision to walk away from the group.
Recalling how he formed the group intentionally as a teenager, Marr explained how he was given the role of manager and struggled to navigate the heavy responsibilities that were placed on him when the band hit it big and he was in his early 20s: “We were all dead young. We weren’t a bunch of mates from school… I wanted to put a band together, so I went and found the members. We learned to love each other very quickly and we became really tight, but we didn’t really know each other.”
“Five years later, when we’re playing to 10,000 people, I was 23! I’m sitting in a meeting with accountants being told tax laws that I didn’t understand,” Marr added. “I was having a great time until I wasn’t. I got miserable. I thought The Smiths were the best band in the world at the time. I was so proud of us and I loved the music we were making. I love the guys, but relationships break down and that’s life.”
The artist continued by sharing that while he now realizes it was “ballsy” to leave the band at the age 24, he doe not regret the decision because it allowed him to work with bands The Pretenders, The Cribs and The The. The decision also taught Marr about how to navigate the band setting more maturely.
Photo Credit: Raymond Flotat
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