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Former Smiths frontman claims Warner Music proposed reissue programme including best-of called Smiths Rule OK!, but Marr rejected proposed artwork

Johnny Marr and Morrissey’s relationship may have crumbled during its creation, but The Smiths’ final album is regarded by many as their best

Hulme Crescents was Europe’s biggest housing estate, and soon deemed its worst. But a vibrant squatter community moved in – along with Mick Hucknall – to make a countercultural mecca

How four Manchester lads went on to become one of the most influential bands of all time

The Smiths' former frontman has paid a touching tribute to his old bandmate

The former frontman of The Smiths said Rourke ‘didn’t ever know his own power’ in an online tribute following his death.

The Smiths were one of the most distinctive, tempestuous rock bands of the 1980s, and bassist Andy Rourke was an important part of holding it together while he could. In a band with a frontman and guitarist — Morrissey and Johnny Marr — often at each other's throats, Rourke's melodic,…

Bassist with the Smiths whose distinctive melodic style was central to the band’s sound

Rourke’s propulsive basslines worked in perfect tandem with Johnny Marr’s guitar parts to create the Smiths’ singular sound

Marr said it was an ‘absolute privilege’ to play alongside Rourke.

Andy Rourke’s career extended beyond The Smiths, playing alongside The Pretenders and Sinead O’Connor, as well as with the supergroup Freebass, which included Gary Mounfield from the Stone Roses and Peter Hook from New Order.