The England born rock megastar, Morrissey grew up with a strong passion for literature which has helped him a great deal in writing some of the most memorable hits with The Smiths and as a solo artist. He excels at penning down emotive lyrics and has been praised by many stars for that including the former member of the Oasis, Noel Gallagher who called him as, “the best lyricist I've ever heard."
Morrissey’s music has created an everlasting impact over the years and has been dubbed as, ‘One of the Most Singular Figures in Western Pop Culture From the Last 20 Years’ by Pitchfork Media. Moreover, he has inspired many iconic bands including, Blur, Pulp and Suede to name a few and has received an Ivor Novello Award for, ‘Outstanding Contribution to British Music.’ He was also ranked as the second greatest living British Icon in a poll held by the BBC’s Cultural Show.
Apart from making hit music, Morrissey is also a well-known author who has written many books including, ‘The New York Dolls,’ ‘James Dean is Not Dead’ and ‘Exit Smiling.’ Plus, a biopic on his early years was also released in 2017 titled, ‘England is Mine.’ Directed by Mark Gill, the flick was shown at the Edinburgh Film Festival and starred the Olivier Award winning actor, Jack Lowden.
Morrissey is now scheduled to perform a series of exciting shows for you live. So, if you want to watch him perform music in your city then Morrissey tickets are all you need. Grab them now before they run out.
The Smiths Era
Morrissey formed The Smiths with Johnny Marr after the latter turned up on his doorstep in 1982. The group took their inspiration from, The New York Dolls, Roxy Music and David Bowie and soon, recorded their demo which they submitted to Factory Records but they didn’t show any interest in signing them. Later, the duo recruited the band’s drummer Mike Joyce in the same year and then handed a cassette of their recordings to the founder of Rough Trade Records, Geoff Travis. Although he didn’t offer them a record deal right away but agreed to release their song, Hand in Glove as a single.
The song became a popular hit in Europe which led to them performing their first major concert in London and were also interviewed by famous music magazines including, Sounds and NME. The band then came out with two more singles, This Charming Man and What Difference Does It Make? both of which did well on the charts and reached twenty fifth and twelfth spot in the United Kingdom. The former made the Mojo’s list of the, ’50 Greatest UK Indie Records of All Time.’
The success of their first three songs allowed The Smiths to build a dedicated fan following and on February 20, 1984, the band churned out their debut self-titled record. The album enabled the band to make their presence felt far beyond the borders of the United Kingdom and made waves in the American markets. It peaked at the second spot on the UK Albums chart and was certified gold by the BPI. It generated positive response from the critics and was included in Rolling Stone’s list of the, ‘500 Greatest Albums of All Time.’
‘The Smiths’ market the start of something special for the group and a year later, they returned with their sophomore studio effort, ‘Meat Is Murder.’ It is their only record to climb atop the UK Albums Chart and received 3.5/5 stars from AllMusic. The album also made the book, ‘1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.’ On June 16, 1986, the band released their third studio album, ‘The Queen is Dead.’ This album is responsible for turning The Smiths into superstars in the United States as it not only achieved gold status in the country but also landed at the seventieth spot on the Billboard 200.
The record was met with unprecedented critical success as it not only got 5/5 stars from a host of different publications including, Q and Uncut but was also placed by Slant Magazine in its list of, ‘Best Albums of the 1980s.’ It also gave three singles, There is a Light That Never Goes Out, The Boy with the Thorn in His Side and Bigmouth Strikes Again out of which the former was ranked at the twelfth spot by NME in its list of, ‘The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.’
In 1987, The Smiths spawned their last studio record, ‘Strangeways, Here We Come.’ The album turned out to their third record to climb the second spot on the UK Albums chart and featured four singles including, Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before. The song appeared in the video game, ‘Rock Band 3’ and was re-composed by the English DJ, Mark Ronson as, Stop Me. The group parted ways shortly after the album hit the markets.
Post-Smiths Era
After the dissolution of The Smiths, a total of seven compilation records hit the markets. Out of those albums, ‘Singles,’ ‘The Very Best of The Smiths’ and ‘The Sounds of the Smiths’ went platinum in the United Kingdom. The latter was released on two discs and received 5/5 stars from AllMusic, Rolling Stone and Hot Press. A three-track EP titled, ‘The Peel Sessions’ which was recorded for the British disc jockey, John Peel’s show in 1983 also came out. On top of that, the group was nominated twice for the induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2014 and 2015.
Riding Solo
Morrissey launched his solo career by churning out his first studio album, ‘Viva Hate’ on March 14, 1988. Produced by Stephen Street, the record became a number-one hit in the United Kingdom and was awarded gold certification by both RIAA and BPI. It also got the critics raving and yielded a couple of singles, Suedehead and Everyday is Like Sunday both of which turned out to be Top10 hits in the UK.
Morrissey then started the 90s by coming out with a brand new studio album, ‘Kill Uncle’ which was released in multiple formats on March 5, 1991. The album did not receive as much success as he had expected but that didn’t slow him down and after a year, his third studio LP, ‘Your Arsenal’ came out. It featured elements of alternative rock and was declared by AllMusic as the “finest solo record and his best work since The Queen Is Dead." The album also earned him a Grammy nomination under the category of, ‘Best Alternative Music Album’ and was placed by Q in its list of the, ‘Top 50 Albums of 1992.’
Since then, Morrissey went on to churn out three more studio efforts throughout the 90s’, ‘Vauxhall and I,’ ‘Southpaw Grammar’ and ‘Maladjusted.’ The former marked his second solo album to top the UK Albums Chart and went gold in the UK. Plus, the record made it to the NME’s list of the, ‘Top 100 British Albums’ and produced a single, The More You Ignore Me, The Close I Get which debuted atop the Alternative Songs chart.
Rocking Into the New Millennium
Following the release of ‘Ringleader of the Tormentors,’ Morrissey took some time off from music to write his book, ‘Autobiography’ which hit the shelves on October 17, 2013. It was praised by The Daily Telegraph who praised the book by calling it as, “the best written musical autobiography since Bob Dylan's Chronicles.” A year later, he shared his tenth studio effort with the world titled, ‘World Peace is None of Your Business.’ It received 70/100 rating from Metacritic and consisted of twelve tracks out of which he put out five as singles.
Morrissey Tour Tickets
In the fall of 2017, Morrissey spawned his latest studio record to date titled, ‘Low in High School’ to mixed reviews from the critics. It was placed in the list, ’30 Best New Albums of 2017’ by Radio X and landed at the fifth spot on the UK Albums chart. It was also supported by two singles, Spent the Day in Bed and Jacky’s Only Happy When She’s Up on the Stage out of which the former turned out to be a critical hit.
Apart from coming out with eleven studio albums, Morrisey have two live and seven video records under his belt. Moreover, he has released eleven compilation albums including, ‘Bona Drag’ which was released in 1990. It achieved gold level sales in the United States and gave a single, Piccadilly Palare which reached second spot on the Alternative Songs chart.
As of now, Morrissey is on his world tour in support of ‘Low in High School.’ He began the trek on October 31, 2017 with a show at the Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall in Portland. From there, he went on to perform in several cities across the North America including, Seattle, Los Angeles, Denver, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia and New York. Morrissey is now scheduled to start the European leg of his road trip in February of 2018. He plans to play plenty of shows in cities like, Glasgow, Dublin, Birmingham and London.
This is your best chance to watch this iconic rock performer live in concert so, don’t wait anymore and grab a pair of Morrissey tour tickets today.
