Morrissey and Johnny Marr will likely never reunite in The Smiths, but they still know how create (social media) hits.
Morrissey started this latest battle by posting "An Open Letter to Johnny Marr," seemingly inspired by Marr giving interviews for his upcoming album, Fever Dreams Parts 1-4, that's out February 25th. In a post on Morrissey Central the singer wrote, "This is not a rant or an hysterical bombast. It is a polite and calmly measured request: Would you please stop mentioning my name in your interviews? Would you please, instead, discuss your own career, your own unstoppable solo achievements and your own music? If you can, would you please just leave me out of it?"
Morrissey finished up his lengthy letter by writing, "Just stop using my name as click-bait. I have not ever attacked your solo work or your solo life, and I have openly applauded your genius during the days of Louder than Bombs and Strangeways, Here We Come, yet you have positioned yourself ever-ready as rent-a-quote whenever the press require an ugly slant on something I half-said during the last glacial period as the Colorado River began to carve out the Grand Canyon. Please stop. It is 2022, not 1982."
Marr responded with a short tweet that said "Dear Morrissey, An ‘open letter’ hasn’t really been a thing since 1953, It’s all ‘social media’ now. Even Donald J. Trump had that one down. Also, this fake news business…a bit 2021 yeah?" he finished the tweet with the hashtag #makingindiegreatagain.