Morrissey has died. Well, for a few minutes. And two years ago.
In an interview with Alternative Nation, during which the Smiths frontman said he was looking forward to returning to South America following his cancelled tour in 2013 after being hospitalised for food poisoning, he said: “I’m also always excited to be in South America, even though the last visit to Peru gave me food poisoning and I officially died for nine minutes. That was fun.”
In July 2013, Morrissey flew home to England on the eve of his South American tour, with a total of 14 gigs scheduled in Peru, Chile, Argentina and Brazil all cancelled owing to his illness.His touring schedule has been unpredictable over the past few years, something attributed to his recent cancer scare.
“They have scraped cancerous tissues four times already, but whatever,” Morrissey told El Mundo (via the Morrissey-Solo messageboard) in October 2014. “If I die, then I die. And if I don’t, then I don’t. Right now I feel good. I am aware that in some of my recent photos I look somewhat unhealthy, but that’s what illness can do. I’m not going to worry about that, I’ll rest when I’m dead.”
Elsewhere in this new interview, Morrissey discussed some of his usual themes – mainly animal rights activism and vegetarianism - as well as American politics, celebrating Hilary Clinton and stating she is “a definite for the Presidency” as well as criticising Barack Obama:
Obama has mystified me because he doesn’t appear to support black people when they need it most, Ferguson being an obvious example. If Michael Brown had instead been one of Obama’s daughters, I don’t think Obama would be insisting that the nation support the so-called security forces! How can they be called security forces if they make the people feel insecure? Obama seems to be white inside.”
