Smiths reunion

The reunion of The Smiths is a hot topic amongst the community, with persistent rumours of such cropping up regularly.

Demise of The Smiths
The Smiths saw guitarist Johnny Marr leave due to tension and strife within the group and exhaustion on the part of Marr. Efforts to continue without Marr proved fruitless and the band split in late 1987.

Current relationships
Relationships between the band members remain acrimonious, especially between lead singer Morrissey and drummer Mike Joyce. Morrissey's relationship with Marr has varied by Marr's account.

1980s-1990s

 * 1987 - Morrissey was reportedly considering a farewell Smiths gig.
 * 1988 - Morrissey held his first ever gig in Wolverhampton, in 1988. The Smiths sans Marr served as his backing band, with Gannon taking over Marr's role.
 * 1990s - The rhythm section (Craig Gannon, Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce) briefly did session work with Morrissey in the late 80s and early 90s, for singles including The Last Of The Famous International Playboys and Interesting Drug. This is perhaps the closest the band has ever reached for reunion, save the Manchester v Cancer gig in 2006 and the solo Wolverhampton gig of 1988. (see below)

2000s

 * November 2004 - VH1 screened a Backstage Pass Special episode of Bands Reunited showing host Aamer Haleem trying and failing to corner Morrissey before a show at the Apollo Theater.


 * 2006 - Morrissey declared, "I would rather eat my own testicles than reform The Smiths, and that's saying something for a vegetarian."When asked why in another interview the same year, he responded, "I feel as if I've worked very hard since the demise of the Smiths and the others haven't, so why hand them attention that they haven't earned? We are not friends, we don't see each other. Why on earth would we be on a stage together?"


 * January 2006 - Marr and bassist Andy Rourke reunited briefly during the Manchester v Cancer benefit concert for a performance of How Soon Is Now. This is the closest the band has ever got to a reunion, barring the rhythm section's (Craig Gannon, Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce) session work with Morrissey in the late 80s and early 90s.


 * March 2006 - Morrissey revealed that The Smiths had been offered $5 million for a performance at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival, which he turned down, saying, "No, because money doesn't come into it." He further explained, "It was a fantastic journey. And then it ended. I didn't feel we should have ended. I wanted to continue. [Marr] wanted to end it. And that was that."


 * August 2007 - It was widely reported that Morrissey had that summer declined an offer of $75 million – nearly £40 million at the time – from a "consortium of promoters" to reunite with Marr for a fifty-date world tour under the Smiths' name in 2008 and 2009. This report was quashed and described as a hoax.


 * 29 October 2008 - Rumours that The Smiths were likely to reform for the Coachella Festival in 2009 were quashed by sources close to the band. A story in The Sun newspaper on 24th October claimed that the four original members were close to signing a deal to perform at the US festival.


 * 26 April 2012 - Fresh rumours of a Smiths reunion were denied by drummer Mike Joyce and guitarist Johnny Marr separately.