page_title: The Smiths
section_title: Post-Smiths careers
hierarchical_section_title: The Smiths / History / Post-Smiths careers
caption_attribution_description: English: British guitarist Johnny Marr performs as part of The Cribs at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C.
context_page_description: The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982. Consisting of vocalist Morrissey, guitarist Johnny Marr, bassist Andy Rourke, and drummer Mike Joyce, critics consider the band one of the most important to emerge from the British independent music scene of the 1980s. Internal tensions led to their break up in 1987 and subsequent offers to reunite have been refused. In 2012, all four Smiths' studio albums appeared on Rolling Stone's list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time", while "William, It Was Really Nothing" and "How Soon Is Now?" were included in the "500 Greatest Songs of All Time" list.
  Based on the songwriting partnership of Morrissey and Marr, the Smiths' focus on a guitar, bass, and drum sound, and fusion of 1960s rock and post-punk, were a rejection of the synthesiser-based dance-pop of the time. Marr's Rickenbacker guitar work was reminiscent of the jangle pop sound of Roger McGuinn from the Byrds. Morrissey's complex, literate lyrics combined themes of ordinary lives with mordant humour.
  The Smiths were signed to the independent label Rough Trade Records.
context_section_description: The Smiths were the subject of a South Bank Show documentary produced by LWT and broadcast by ITV on 18 October 1987, four months after their break-up and three weeks after the release of Strangeways.
  Following the group's demise, Morrissey began work on a solo recording, collaborating with producer Stephen Street and fellow Mancunian Vini Reilly, guitarist for The Durutti Column. The resulting album, Viva Hate (a reference to the end of the Smiths), was released in March 1988, reaching number one in the UK charts. In the following years, he invited several singers for backing vocals on several songs such as Suggs of Madness on "Picadilly Palare" and Chrissie Hynde of the Pretenders on "My Love Life". At the beginning of the nineties, he enjoyed a new popularity in North America, following his first tour as Morrissey. Morrissey continues to perform and record as a solo artist, and has released 13 studio albums as of 2020.
  Johnny Marr returned to the music scene in 1989 with New Order's Bernard Sumner and Pet Shop Boys' Neil Tennant in the supergroup Electronic. Electronic released three albums over the next decade. Marr was also a member of The The, recording two albums with the group between 1989 and 1993. He has worked as a session musician and writing collaborator with artists including the Pretenders, Bryan Ferry, Pet Shop Boys, Billy Bragg, Black Grape, Talking Heads, Crowded House and Beck.
  In 2000 he started another band, Johnny Marr + the Healers, which released only one album, Boomslang (2003), to moderate success, then split up shortly afterwards. He later worked as a guest musician on the Oasis album Heathen Chemistry (2002). In 2006 he began work with Modest Mouse's Isaac Brock on songs that eventually featured on the band's 2007 release, We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank. Modest Mouse subsequently announced that Marr was a fully fledged member, and the reformed line-up toured extensively in 2006–07. In January 2008, it was reported that Marr had taken part in a week-long songwriting session at Moolah Rouge recording studio in Stockport with Wakefield indie group the Cribs. Marr's association with the band lasted three years and included an appearance on its fourth album, Ignore the Ignorant (2009). His departure from the group was announced in April 2011. He subsequently embarked on a solo career and recorded three solo albums, The Messenger (2013), Playland (2014) and Call the Comet (2018). In addition to his activities as a musician and songwriter, Marr produced Marion's second album, The Program (1998) and Haven's debut album, Between the Senses (2002).
  Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce have continued working together. They toured with Sinéad O'Connor in the first half of 1988 (Rourke also appeared on her 1990 album I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got). Still in 1988, they were recruited (with Craig Gannon) to the Adult Net, but left the band soon afterwards. In 1988 and 1989, they recorded singles with Morrissey. In 1998 they toured and recorded with Aziz Ibrahim (the Stone Roses). In 2001 they formed Specter with Jason Specter and others. The band played in the United Kingdom and the United States, but did not prosper. In the same year they recorded demos with Paul Arthurs (Oasis), Aziz Ibrahim and Rowetta Idah (Happy Mondays) under the name Moondog One, but the project went no further. Towards the end of 2001, they played together in the veteran Manchester band Jeep. In 2005 they played with Vinny Peculiar, recording the single "Two Fat Lovers" (Joyce also appeared on the 2006 album The Fall and Rise of Vinny Peculiar). In 2007 they released the documentary DVD Inside the Smiths, a surprisingly affectionate memoir of their time with the band, notable for the absence of Marr, Morrissey, and their music.
  Rourke and Joyce have also pursued their own projects. Joyce has recorded with Suede (1990); toured and recorded with Buzzcocks (1990–91); toured with Julian Cope (1992); toured with John Lydon and Public Image Ltd (1992); recorded with P.P. Arnold (1995); toured and recorded with Pete Wylie (1996–98); toured
caption: Johnny Marr performing as part of the group the Cribs at the 9:30 Club in Washington, D.C. in 2010
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