Morrissey

Morrissey is a famous English singer-songwriter and author who drove to prominence as the lead singer of the Smiths, an indie rock band that was very popular during the 1980’s for releasing such songs as How Soon is Now?, There is a Light That Never Goes Out,  Girlfriend in a Coma and William, It was Really Nothing. Upon the demise of the Smiths in 1987, Morrissey began a successful solo career. Some of his notable songs as a solo artist include Suedehead, Irish Blood English Heart, and Everyday is like Sunday. Today, Morrissey is not only regarded as one of Britain’s most iconic musicians of all time but he is also regarded as the one of the most influential personalities in the entire history of British pop music.

Morrissey performing live at SXSW in Austin, Texas, U.S.A. in March 2006 – Photo by mrmatt@flickr. Source: Wikimedia.

Morrissey was born on May 22, 1959, in a town called Davyhulme in Lancashire to Peter and Elizabeth Morrissey and was raised with his only sibling, an elder sister called Jacqueline.

Throughout his life, Morrissey has had romantic relationships with a number of men and women and has never been married nor fathered any children.

Facts about Morrissey

• Morrissey is widely regarded as one of Britain’s greatest lyricist of all time.
• His lyrics are so important that over the years, they have constantly been studied by numerous scholars.
• In a 2006 poll conducted by the BBC, Morrissey came in second as Britain’s greatest living icon.
• Throughout his career, Morrissey has been accused on several occasions of being a racist. For example, in 1986, he once referred to reggae music as a vile kind of music which glorified black supremacy. Another notable instance which led many to accuse the singer of being a racist was in a 2010 interview he had with The Guardian newspaper, in which he called the people of China “sub-species” because of the rampant cases of animal cruelty that was ongoing in China.
• He was a good athlete while in school.
• Before becoming a professional musician, Morrissey was a writer and tried to make a career for himself in music journalism.
• Morrissey became a vegetarian when he was 11 years old, and grew up to become one of the most miltant vegetarian the world has ever known.
• In a 2015 interview that Morrissey had with Larry King, he said he had become a vegan.
• Despite criticizing Hillary Clinton in 2008, he endorsed her for President during the 2016 Presidential election in the United States.
• Morrissey and the legendary Irish footballer Robbie Keane are cousins.
• During his career with the Smiths, he claimed to have been celibate. According to Morrissey’s autobiography, he began a romantic relationship with a man called Jake Walters in 1994, and lived together with Walters until 1996. Away from Walters, Morrissey was also romantically linked to a woman named Tina Dehghani, with whom he discussed the idea of fathering a child. His autobiography also talks about his relationship with an Italian man, whom he referred to as Gelato. Despite clearly being homosexual, according to Morrissey, he isn’t homosexual but rather “humasexual” because he is attracted to human beings.
• Growing up, Morrissey lived an extremely lonely and depressed life. He often took prescription drugs to treat his severe depression.
• Morrissey published his autobiography titled Autobiography and his debut novel titled List of the Lost in 2013 and 2015 respectively.
• Morrissey strongly despises the British monarchy and has over the years criticized them on countless of occasions. According to him, England doesn’t need the royal family and that they don’t “serve any purpose”.
• Since his career with the Smiths, Morrissey has inspired numerous bands and artists, including Oasis, Suede, Blur, Brandon Flowers, Thom Yorke, Colin Meloy and Thom Yorke.
• His favorite Smiths album is Strangeways, Here We Come. Interestingly that album also happens to be his former Smiths bandmate Johnny Marr’s favorite Smiths album.
• In 1989, Morrissey’s former Smiths band mates Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce started legal proceedings against him and Johnny Marr, saying that they were each entitled to 25% of the band’s recording and performance royalties instead of the 10% which was being given to them. Rourke later settled out of court but Joyce pursued the case until in December 1996, the case was finally heard by the High Court of Justice in England. Having ruled in Joyce’s favor, the judge referred to Morrissey as a “complicated character” and one that seemed “devious, truculent and unreliable”.

Popular Morrissey Songs

• Little Man, What Now?
• Everyday Is Like Sunday
• Bengali in Platforms
• Angel, Angel Down We Go Together
• Margaret on the Guillotine
• Late Night, Maudlin Street
• Suedehead
• Our Frank
• Asian Rut
• Sing Your Life
• There’s a Place in Hell for Me and My Friends
• Glamorous Glue
• The National Front Disco
• Certain People I Know
• You’re the One for Me, Fatty
• Tomorrow
• We Hate It When Our Friends Become Successful
• Seasick, Yet Still Docked
• Now My Heart Is Full
• Hold on to Your Friends
• Spring-Heeled Jim
• The More You Ignore Me, the Closer I Get
• Reader Meet Author
• The Boy Racer
• Dagenham Dave
• Alma Matters
• Roy’s Keen
• Satan Rejected My Soul
• Irish Blood, English Heart
• First of the Gang to Die
• I Have Forgiven Jesus
• Let Me Kiss You
• America Is Not the World
• You Have Killed Me
• The Youngest Was the Most Loved
• I Just Want to See the Boy Happy
• In the Future When All’s Well
• I Will See You In Far-Off Places
• All You Need Is Me
• Something Is Squeezing My Skull
• I’m Throwing My Arms Around Paris
• That’s How People Grow Up
• One Day Goodbye Will Be Farewell
• Mama Lay Softly on the Riverbed
• Istanbul
• Kiss Me a Lot
• World Peace Is None of Your Business
• Earth Is the Loneliest Planet
• The Bullfighter Dies