Johnny Marr: Last News

Daisy Allen taught herself to sing watching free online videos as her family struggled to pay for professional lessons. But her dedication has struck a cord with a certain charming man.

The Smiths tribute band set to play at the re-opening gig of the O2 Academy in Brixton tonight (Friday April 19) have spoken to NME about what to expect from the show and what it means it be gracing the stage at the iconic London venue after tragedy closed its doors.The legendary South London venue has been shut since December 2022 after a fatal crowd crush that left two people dead. The tragic incident occurred at an Asake concert, which resulted in the deaths of Gabrielle Hutchinson, aged 23, and 33-year-old Rebecca Ikumelo.

Johnny Marr was joined on stage by Pet Shop Boys’ Neil Tennant at London’s Eventim Apollo last night (April 12) – check out footage from the show below. Marr’s The Spirit Power Tour arrived at the Hammersmith venue, and welcomed Tennant at the end of the set for covers of David Bowie’s ‘Rebel Rebel’ and Electronic’s ‘Getting Away With It’, a song on which Tennant himself sang the original lead vocals.

Suede have announced a huge outdoor headline show in the UK for this summer – you can find all the details below.The band are due to perform as part of the Heritage Live concert series in the grounds of Audley End in Saffron Walden, Essex on Thursday, August 1. They’ll be joined by the very special guest openers Johnny Marr and Nadine Shah.Promoter Giles Cooper of GCE Live said: “It’s been an ambition of us all at Heritage Live to stage a show for the legendary Suede, and to have Johnny Marr as their special guest is a dream come true!“Both are icons of the British music scene and to have the brilliant, Mercury-nominated, Nadine Shah to open will mean this will undoubtedly be a night to remember for many years to come.

She is on the brink of becoming one of the most powerful women in Britain. He and his brother gave a certain swagger to his home city.

a noise complaint from a resident who had moved to Manchester during the lockdown.Now, after over 94,000 people signed a petition to remove the Noise Abatement Notice (NAN) – including Johnny Marr, New Order, Courteeners, Frank Turner, Mogwai and more – and a reported £160,000 in court fees, it has been ruled that the venue can continue to operate.Following four rounds of hearings, District Judge Margaret McCormack announced her ruling during a Manchester Magistrates’ court hearing today (March 18).In her ruling (via Manchester Evening News), she said that a nuisance was being created by the venue, particularly due to it running from 11am to 3am on Friday and Saturday nights. That being said, she did go on to state that the Northern Quarter is a “lively, vibrant” area, but as the city evolves, its “usages are changing” – which means the area can now be considered mixed-use.“In an ideal world, a balance would be able to be struck in the ability of the resident to enjoy their property and the venue to operate as a going concern.

Sinéad O’Connor‘s estate has called out Donald Trump for using her music during his political rallies.A joint statement was created between the Irish music legend’s estate and record label Chrysalis, demanding Trump to stop using her music immediately. The estate shared that O’Connor would have been “disgusted, hurt, and insulted” over the use of ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ being used during the former US president’s rallies.“Throughout her life, it is well known that Sinéad O’Connor lived by a fierce moral code defined by honesty, kindness, fairness, and decency towards her fellow human beings,” read the statement (per The Guardian).“It was with outrage therefore that we learned that Donald Trump has been using her iconic performance of ‘Nothing Compares 2 U’ at his political rallies,” it continued.

Representatives from the estate of Sinéad O’Connor have said the late Irish singer would have been “disgusted, hurt, and insulted” at her version of Nothing Compares 2 U being played at political rallies hosted by Republican presidential favorite Donald Trump. 

Noel Gallagher has joined forces with Gibson to create a limited-edition run of Gibson ’78 Les Paul Customs.The singer, songwriter, guitarist and former Oasis legend teamed up with the iconic guitar manufacturer in celebration of the grand opening of the Gibson Garage in London later this week, and to raise funds for charity.In the collaboration, Gallagher has released 20 signed Gibson ’78 Les Paul Custom guitars – inspired by the axe originally given to him by Johnny Marr, and used extensively for both live performances and recording sessions with Oasis. It also famously appeared in the video for the song ‘Whatever’.The 20 guitars will be available exclusively to in-person attendees on the official opening day of the new flagship store in central London (Saturday, February 24).

Noel Gallagher has announced details of a huge Warwick Castle show with Johnny Marr and The Waeve – find all the information below.Back in December 2023, Gallagher announced he and the High Flying Birds were to embark on a summer tour. They will stop by Cardiff, Wigan, Halifax and London from July 2024.Now, the band has announced a further headline date at Warwick Castle on July 21. They will be supported by Johnny Marr and The Waeve (Graham Coxon and Rose Elinor Dougall).Tickets will go on general sale at 10am next Friday (February 23) – see all dates below and get yours here.

Rick Astley performed covers of Olivia Rodrigo‘s ‘Driver’s Licence’ and Ed Sheeran‘s ‘Shape Of You’ during his recent appearance in the BBC Radio 2 Piano Room – check them out below.The star performed his 1987 hit ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’, which integrated a string melody of Sheeran’s ‘Shape Of You’ at BBC’s Maida Vale Studios last week.He also sang a dramatic rendition of Rodrigo’s 2021 song ‘Drivers License’, complete with a full orchestral arrangement and backing singers.Watch the two performances below.It’s no secret that the ’80s star is a big fan of covers, having formed a Smiths covers band with Blossoms.Astley made headlines in 2021 when he joined Blossoms on stage in London to perform a number of Smiths covers, before they went on to perform a number of full gigs dedicated to the indie legends.While former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr wasn’t too pleased about having not been told about it – later telling NME that he’d been in touch with Blossoms and “dealt with it” – Blossoms and Astley even went on to perform at Glastonbury together in 2023.“I can’t tell you how much I love doing this,” Astley told NME of the covers band. “I know it’s sacrilege and they should hang the lot of us on the line for doing it, but I also just don’t care.

Johnny Marr appeared on an episode of Would I Lie To You this evening (February 9) and recounted a “true story” about getting egged in Manchester as a teenager.Would I Lie To You? – which was first broadcast back in 2007 – is presented by Rob Brydon (Gavin & Stacey, The Trip), and the award-winning programme’s current team captains are David Mitchell (Peep Show) and Lee Mack (Not Going Out).Per an official description, the trio “encourage their guests to tell the tallest of tales” to the opposing team across three rounds: ‘Home Truths’, ‘This is My…’ and ‘Quick-Fire Lies’. Teams are awarded a point for correctly guessing whether a story is true or not, but their rival team gets a point if they guess incorrectly.After being described as “this show’s coolest ever guest” by comedian Mack, Marr tried to convince the other contestants that he was telling the truth about the time he was egged after getting sacked from his job at a local co-op in Manchester.Marr had a job as a teenager “stacking shelves” and “eggs” in the shop for around three weeks before he was “let go”, he told the contestants.

The Libertines have revealed which artists will be joining them for their upcoming Brighton show – with The Charlatans, The Mary Wallopers and more added to the line-up. Find ticket details below.The announcement comes just one day after the indie heavyweights announced their headline slot at the On The Beach 2024.

over two years after it was first served.The iconic venue has been under threat of closure for the past couple of years, after it faced a noise complaint from a resident who had moved to Manchester during lockdown in 2021.Following the complaint, more than 94,000 people signed a petition to remove the Noise Abatement Notice (NAN). These came from the likes of Johnny Marr, New Order, Courteeners, Frank Turner and Mogwai, as well as the network of the UK’s grassroots music venues.The Charlatans‘ Tim Burgess – who was instrumental in saving Manchester’s Gorilla and Deaf Institute through the pandemic – told NME why it was essential to fight back against this complaint while Elbow frontman Guy Garvey described Night & Day as an “essential” independent venue “that took it upon themselves to look after the city’s music and art”.Now, the venue has shared an update, and revealed that it hopes that the threat of closure will be lifted in the following days as the residents who placed the complaint have moved out and no further queries have been raised.“We head back to Manchester Magistrates Court on Monday [January 29] for our final three day hearing.

Ahead of the New Hampshire primary earlier this week, political reporter Ben Jacobs attended a rally for former President Donald Trump and noted in a posting on X that the Smiths had been added to the presumptive Republican nominee's pre-show playlist. The following day, ABC's Soorin Kim noted that this wasn't a new development.

Ellise Shafer Heaven knows Johnny Marr is miserable now after Donald Trump played a Smiths song before a campaign rally. A video posted by ABC presidential campaign reporter Soorin Kim on X, formerly known as Twitter, showed the Smiths‘ “Hatful of Hollow” hit “Please, Please, Please, Let Me Get What I Want” playing during a Trump rally in South Dakota back in September. The band’s former guitarist took to the platform on Tuesday night to denounce the use of the song, writing: “Ahh…right…OK.

Johnny Marr has reacted to a video showing The Smiths track ‘Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want’ being played at a Donald Trump rally.The former president is currently running for the Republican Party nomination to be U.S. President. A video has been making the rounds on X/Twitter showing the famous Smiths B-side track playing at the South Dakota Republican rally last year.Marr, the former guitarist for the Mancunian band and composer of ‘Please Please Please Let Me Get What I Want’, expressed his discontent with the song being used by Trump at rallies.“Ahh…right…OK.

Donald Trump may be poised to win the New Hampshire primary tonight, but the GOP front runner won’t be getting a vote from at least one musical legend.

Smiths bassist Andy Rourke, have announced their debut album to mark what would have been his 60th birthday.Rourke died last May after “a lengthy illness with pancreatic cancer”, as confirmed in a statement from ex-bandmate Johnny Marr. He was 59 years old.Today (January 17) would have been Rourke’s 60th birthday, and Blitz Vega have marked the occasion by revealing that their debut album ‘Northern Gentleman’ will see the light of day on April 26.“The album is a diary of the last seven years of the journey that Andy, the band and I went on recording this music as Blitz Vega,” the band’s Kav Sandhu said in a statement of the record, which features guitar from Marr and is something he said he “promised” Rourke he would release.“Every song tells a story and personally takes me back to a memory of recording that song.

Johnny Marr has issued a warning over fake AI-generated voice messages that may appear to be him.The musician and former member of The Smiths took to his official X/Twitter account to share a tweet advising fans to be wary of fake messages that may be going around which appear to be from him but were created with the use of artificial intelligence.“Just a warning to people to watch out for fake messages from me generated by AI, including voice messages. If anyone receives one please send them my details as I’d quite like to have a dialogue with AI Johnny, who I really hope isn’t actually smarter than me…than I,” read his tweet.Just a warning to people to watch out for fake messages from me generated by AI, including voice messages.

Johnny Marr and The Charlatans have announced a handful of huge UK 2024 co-headlining outdoor shows.Both Marr and The Charlatans are set to perform as part of the Forest Live concert series that will take place at Cannock Chase Forest in Rugelegy on June 28, 2024. They are also both set to play the Scarborough Open Air Theatre on June 29, 2024.A ticket pre-sale will be available for fans who sign up for The Charlatans’ official mailing list from Tuesday, December 12 at 9am local time.