First of all, the Smiths can’t properly reunite. Andy Rourke is dead. They missed their window. The light that never goes out? Extinguished. With all due respect to Bonehead, this isn’t an Oasis situation where all you need are the two key players. The Smiths were a four-person unit in which every member mattered. On the other hand, the Rolling Stones are going to keep touring as the Rolling Stones as long as Mick Jagger and Keith Richards are out there (and maybe even with just Jagger someday if the earnings projections justify it?), even though Charlie Watts was an essential component of their sound. Perception is everything in these situations, and for many people, Morrissey and Johnny Marr together onstage would be more than enough.

It’s not going to happen, but the offer is on the table. Now that Noel and Liam Gallagher have patched things up long enough to schedule a massive Oasis reunion tour, many speculators have turned to the question of whether their fellow Mancunians Morrissey and Marr might ever bury the hatchet and return to the stage together for the first time since their 1987 breakup. Morrissey says he’s in.

As NME points out, Moz shared a message on his Morrissey Central website today asserting that in June, he and Marr received a “lucrative” offer to tour as the Smiths from behemoth concert promoter AEG. According to Morrissey, Morrissey said yes, while Marr “ignored the offer.” Here’s the full text of the post:

In June 2024 AEG Entertainment Group made a lucrative offer to both Morrissey and Marr to tour worldwide as ‘The Smiths’ throughout 2025.

Morrissey said Yes to the offer; Marr ignored the offer.

Morrissey undertakes a largely sold out tour of the USA in November.
Marr continues to tour as a special guest to New Order.

Marr has strongly implied that Morrissey’s politics are causing him to keep his distance from the singer. In recent years Morrissey has expressed support for the far-right anti-immigrant group For Britain. In 2019, Marr responded to reports of a 2020 Smiths reunion tour by tweeting, “Nigel Farage on guitar.” Marr revived the bit this week by tweeting Brexit architect Farage’s photo in response to a post that read, “If Oasis can do it The Smiths can too (I’m delusional).”