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Johnny Marr
Johnny Marr performing with Modest Mouse on June 2, 2007.
Background information
Birth name	John Martin Maher
Born	October 31, 1963 (1963-10-31) (age 44) Manchester, England
Genre(s)	Alternative rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, Songwriter
Instrument(s)	Guitar, Keyboards, Harmonica, Vocals
Years active	1982 - present
Label(s)	Various
Associated acts	The Smiths Electronic Johnny Marr and The Healers Modest Mouse The The

Johnny Marr (born John Martin Maher on 31 October 1963 in Ardwick, Manchester) is an English guitarist, keyboardist, harmonica player and singer. Marr rose to fame in the 1980s as the guitarist in The Smiths, where he formed a highly influential songwriting partnership with Morrissey. He currently resides in Portland, Oregon, and has been a member of Modest Mouse since 2006.

Marr's parents emigrated from County Kildare, Ireland to Manchester in the 1950s. He attended St Augustine's RC Grammar School, which then merged with other schools to form a Comprehensive School. Marr had aspirations to be a professional football (soccer) player, and was approached by Nottingham Forest F.C. and had trials with Manchester City F.C. (whom he supports). In an interview with FourFourTwo magazine, Marr said that "I was good enough for City, but they didn't follow up because I was probably the only player out there wearing eyeliner."

Main article: The Smiths

Billy Duffy, guitarist of The Cult, taught Marr how to play the guitar. In 1982, Marr began writing songs with Morrissey, after they formed The Smiths. To complete the lineup, they recruited Mike Joyce on drums, Dale Hibbert on bass guitar. After The Smiths live debut at the Ritz in Manchester, Hibbert was replaced by Marr's friend Andy Rourke. By then, Morrissey had dropped his first name and Maher had changed his name to Marr to avoid confusion with the Buzzcocks drummer.

Having achieved commercial and critical success with landmark albums such as The Queen Is Dead, The Smiths were soon popular in the UK and Ireland, but did not have the same degree of success elsewhere. Although they were a fixture on American college radio, worldwide commercial success came after the band was split up. Marr left the band in 1987 due to his frustrations with Morrissey and the direction that the music of The Smiths was taking.

From The Smiths' year of inception to the breakup of the band 5 years later in 1987, Marr and Morrissey co-wrote four albums, as well as numerous B-sides and other unreleased songs that eventually appeared on compilations. Still today, the partnership of Marr and Morrissey is praised by critics and cited by numerous musicians as a highly influential songwriting duo.^{[citation needed]}

Since Marr left the group, no known attempts have been made of reuniting The Smiths. Amidst false press reports of a Smiths reunion, Marr performed "How Soon Is Now?" with former bandmate Andy Rourke at the Manchester v Cancer benefit concert at Manchester's MEN Arena on January 28, 2006.

After the demise of The Smiths in 1987, Marr recorded and toured with The The and formed Electronic with New Order's Bernard Sumner & sometime members Pet Shop Boys. He also became a sought-after session player, writing, touring and recording with, among others, Bryan Ferry, The Pretenders, Kirsty MacColl, Karl Bartos of Kraftwerk, Talking Heads, Black Grape, Billy Bragg, Pet Shop Boys, Beck and Oasis. He also acted as co-producer for some of the aforementioned artists & co-produced Manchester band Haven at his own Clear Studios.

In 2000 Johnny recruited drummer Zak Starkey (son of Ringo Starr), Cavewaves' guitarist Lee Spencer and ex-Kula Shaker bassist Alonza Bevan for his new project Johnny Marr and the Healers. The band had took two years to come together as Marr had wanted members to be chosen "by chemistry". Their debut album Boomslang was released in 2003, with all lyrics & lead vocals by Marr. The second LP was originally scheduled for release in April 2005 and a short tour was expected soon after, but Marr has since stated (MEN May '07) that the band is on the "side burner" for the time being. Drummer Starkey is currently involved with Oasis and The Who, and Bevan has regrouped with Kula Shaker.

In 2006, Marr became an official member of the American band Modest Mouse. Rumour has it that Modest Mouse had put out the word that they were looking for a "Johnny Marr-esque guitarist", and coincidentally, Johnny Marr was one of the people who answered the call. He wrote some of the songs with lead singer Isaac Brock on their new album We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank, in addition to being featured on guitar.^[1] Marr is currently touring with the band. ^{[2] [3]}

The new album reached number 1 on the American Billboard charts in late March 2007. For Marr this is the first time he has had a number one record in the U.S. The highest chart position before that one was with Electronic who went Top 40 in the singles chart with "Getting Away With It".^[4]

Marr is set to deliver a series of workshops and masterclasses to students at the University of Salford in the BA (Hons) Popular Music and Recording programme.^[5]

• The Smiths (1984)
• Hatful of Hollow (1984)
• Meat Is Murder (1985)
• The Queen Is Dead (1986)
• Strangeways, Here We Come (1987)
• The World Won't Listen (1987)
• Louder Than Bombs (1987)
• Rank (1988)

• Mind Bomb (1989)
• Dusk (1992)

• Kite (1989)

• Electronic (1991)
• Raise the Pressure (1996)
• Twisted Tenderness (1999)

• Boomslang (2003)

• We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank (2007)

• Talking with the Taxman About Poetry (1986)
• Don't Try This at Home (1991)
• Bloke on Bloke (1997)

• Bête Noire (1987)

• Naked (1988)

• Behaviour (1990)
• Bilingual (1996)
• Release (2002)

• Ripe (1991)

• Electric Landlady (1991)

• Moodfood (1992)

• Universal (1993)

• Burned (1995)

• Fresco (1997)

• Midnite Vultures (1999)

• Reload (1999)

• Crimson Moon (2000)

• 7 Worlds Collide (2002)

• Heathen Chemistry (2002)

• Daybreaker (2002)

• Live It Like You Love It (2002)

• Pigs and Battleships (2003)

• Communication (2003)

• Lullaby for Liquid Pig (2003)
• In the Maybe World (2006)

• Fictions (2006)

• Living in a Giant Candle Winking at God (2006)

• Time On Earth (2007)

• The Program (1998)

• Between the Senses (2002)

In addition to an extensive singles discography with the artists listed above, Johnny has appeared on singles by Sandie Shaw, Everything But the Girl, The Pretenders, Andrew Berry, A Certain Ratio, The Cult, Denise Johnson, Stex, and Black Grape.

1. ^ http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/news/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1001956909
2. ^ http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2006/08/03/jeff/#more-426
3. ^ http://www.jmarr.com Johnny Marr website
4. ^ Former Smiths' guitarplayer reaches number 1 in this weeks American Billboard Chart
5. ^ Johnny Marr appointed visiting professor. University of Salford (2007-10-18). Retrieved on 2007-12-03.

• jmarr.com- Official site
• Manchester v Cancer official concert website

The Smiths
Morrissey - Johnny Marr - Andy Rourke - Mike Joyce
Craig Gannon - Dale Hibbert
Discography
Albums: The Smiths | Meat Is Murder | The Queen Is Dead | Strangeways, Here We Come | Rank (live)
Singles: Hand in Glove | This Charming Man | What Difference Does It Make? | Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now | William, It Was Really Nothing | How Soon Is Now? | Shakespeare's Sister | That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore | The Boy with the Thorn in His Side | Bigmouth Strikes Again | Panic | Ask | Shoplifters of the World Unite | Sheila Take a Bow | Girlfriend in a Coma | I Started Something I Couldn't Finish | Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me | There Is a Light That Never Goes Out
Band-assembled compilations: Hatful of Hollow | The World Won't Listen | Louder Than Bombs
Other compilations: Stop Me | Best...I | ...Best II | Singles | The Very Best of The Smiths
Related
Rough Trade Records

v • d • e Modest Mouse
Isaac Brock • Jeremiah Green • Eric Judy
Johnny Marr • Tom Peloso • Joe Plummer
Former Members
John Wickhart • Dann Gallucci • Benjamin Weikel • Steve Wold
Studio albums
Blue Cadet-3, Do You Connect? • This Is a Long Drive for Someone with Nothing to Think About • Interstate 8 • The Fruit That Ate Itself •The Lonesome Crowded West • The Moon & Antarctica • Everywhere and His Nasty Parlour Tricks • Good News for People Who Love Bad News • We Were Dead Before the Ship Even Sank
Other albums
Night on the Sun • Building Nothing Out of Something • Sad Sappy Sucker • Baron von Bullshit Rides Again
Singles
"Broke" • "A Life of Arctic Sounds" • "Birds vs. Worms" • "Other People's Lives" • "Never Ending Math Equation" • "Whenever You See Fit" • "Float On" • "Ocean Breathes Salty" • "The World at Large" • "Dashboard" • "King Rat" • "Missed the Boat" • "We've Got Everything"
Labels
K Records • Sub Pop • Up Records • Epic Records • Suicide Squeeze Records • Hit or Miss • Rebel Beat Factory