Hopes have been dashed for fans who thought that a new and verified Smiths Twitter account might signal the re-formation of the Manchester group. Morrissey and later the account itself both confirmed that Tweets from the feed will be sent out by Warners.
“A Smiths/Morrissey Google alerts/Twitter account has been opened by Warner UK,” reads a post on True To You, a website that Morrissey frequently uses to communicate with the outside world. “Morrissey would like to stress that this account has not been sanctioned by him and has no connection to him. Follow it at your peril.”
Please note this account is purely to celebrate the history and the music of The Smiths.
— The Smiths (@Smiths_Official) April 6, 2016
The account was potentially set up in time for the Smiths’ 30th anniversary of The Queen Is Dead, which was released in June 1986. So far an exhibition featuring photographs and a soundscape has been announced, which will pay homage to the Smiths in Salford later this year. Morrissey and Johnny Marr have given their approval to the project.
It’s the closest the Smiths will probably come to a reunion this year. The band was formed in 1982 by Stephen Morrissey, Johnny Marr, Andy Rourke and Mike Joyce, and split up in 1987.
“A re-formation will never take place because re-formations can only work if the same spirit that made the band form in the first place still exists,” Morrissey told the Hollywood Reporter in 2013.
He has also said that he would rather eat his “own testicles than re-form the Smiths, and that’s saying something for a vegetarian”.
In May 2014, Morrissey, or a user claiming to be him, set up an account and tweeted twice. The since-deleted posts included: “Hello. Testing, 1, 2, 3. Planet Earth, are you there? One can only hope …” and “Follow, follow, follow. Twitter is the perfect metaphor for … something. Dunno what.”
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