A ‘Greatest Hits’ album from The Smiths has been “blocked” by Johnny Marr, according to Morrissey.
In a new post on his website shared last night (September 11), Morrissey revealed that a “proposed greatest hits album by the Smiths entitled ‘Smiths Rule OK!’ has been blocked by J Marr”. He went on to add that a re-issue of the band’s 1983 debut single ‘Hand In Glove’ has similarly been blocked from release by his former bandmate.
But according to Morrissey, that’s not all – the singer wrote in his blogpost that the greatest hits album and ‘Hand In Glove’ reissue were scheduled for release this year alongside “a deluxe box release of The Smiths’ first album” and “a new 7-inch” of their 1992 track ‘This Charming Man’. The “deluxe box release” of their 1984 self-titled debut album was meant to “commemorate its 40-year anniversary”.
Morrissey also alleged that Warner Records had approached him and Darren Evans to “assemble artwork for all four releases, all of which were rejected and halted out of hand by J Marr”.
Marr has yet to comment on Morrissey’s latest claims.
Morrissey’s claims of Marr blocking The Smiths’ greats hits album comes after he previously revealed late last month that Marr had “ignored” a lucrative offer from AEG Entertainment Group to reunite the band. Morrissey claimed at the time that he had agreed to the offer, which would’ve seen The Smiths tour “throughout 2025”.
The update continued: “Morrissey undertakes a largely sold out tour of the USA in November. Marr continues to tour as a special guest to New Order.” The statement came after Marr had responded to a fan’s call for The Smiths to return amid the huge Oasis reunion news.
Earlier this week, Morrissey claimed that he is being “gagged” over the release of his album ‘Bonfire Of The Teenagers’, which he recorded between 2020 and 2021 and remains unreleased. The album’s title track is a song he says is about “England’s 9/11”, the Manchester Arena bombing in 2017.
Morrissey explained: “The Manchester Arena bombing was our 9/11. But, in this sad country of ours, to understand the full meaning of the attack is to be guilty, and this is why the ‘don’t look back in anger’ command always struck me as derisive and not at all words of social harmony.”
He continued: “Once you edit yourself or self-censor then the idiots have won. There is no arts media anymore in England, therefore there’s no one to whom I can sit and talk about this. The fact is, genuine artists in England are now being held hostage by people who object to any manner of alternative opinion.”
Last month, Morrissey said his former band’s popularity had not waned as it was all about “a refusal to surrender to enemy propaganda”. “The Smiths do not end,” the ex-frontman wrote. In January, the soloist claimed that he had been “deleted” from the “essence” and history of The Smiths.