State Champ Radio UK Live
Trending on Billboard
Olivia Dean’s baby steps have turned into a sprint. After opening up for Sabrina Carpenter on the final leg of the Short n’ Sweet Tour, Dean announced her first-ever headlining North American arena tour on Friday (Nov. 14).
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
The Art of Loving tour is slated for next summer, kicking off in San Francisco on July 10. The singer will also head to Los Angeles, New York City’s Madison Square Garden, Atlanta, Toronto, Las Vegas, Boston, Houston and wrap up in Austin on Aug. 28.
Those who register with Olivia Dean’s mailing list will have access to the pre-sale, which is set to begin at 10 a.m. local time next Tuesday (Nov. 18) on Ticketmaster. The general public will have their chance when tickets go on sale next Friday (Nov. 21).
The “Man I Need” artist is donating $1 of every ticket sale to support communities in Jamaica impacted by Hurricane Melissa.
“The art of loving in the usa / canada 2026 these are venues i have only dreamt of playing. see you next year lovers,” she wrote on Instagram .”Ok love you bye!”
Olivia Dean has gained a ton of crossover momentum while breaking through in the U.S. over the last couple of months. The 26-year-old boasts four songs on this week’s Billboard Hot 100, including the top 5 hit “Man I Need.” Dean’s The Art of Loving album also sits at No. 7 on the current Billboard 200.
Find all of The Art of Loving 2026 tour dates below.
The Art of Loving Live Tour Dates:July 10, 2026 – San Francisco, Calif. @ Chase CenterJuly 14, 2026 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ Crypto.com ArenaJuly 18, 2026 – Las Vegas, Nev. @ MGM Grand Garden ArenaJuly 22, 2026 – Salt Lake City, Utah @ Maverick CenterJuly 25, 2026 – Denver, Co. @ Ball ArenaJuly 29, 2026 – Minneapolis, Minn. @ Target CenterAug. 4, 2026 – Toronto, Ontario @ Scotiabank ArenaAug. 7, 2026 – Montreal, QC @ Bell CentreAug. 10, 2026 – Boston, Mass. @ TD GardenAug. 12, 2026 – Baltimore, Md. @ CFG Bank ArenaAug. 14, 2026 – New York, N.Y. @ Madison Square GardenAug. 22, 2026 – Atlanta, Ga. @ State Farm ArenaAug. 25, 2026 – Houston, Texas @ Toyota CenterAug. 28, 2026 – Austin, Texas @ Moody Center
Trending on Billboard
Four of the U.K.’s leading artists are among those coming together to call on the British Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, to honour a pledge to protect fans from online ticket scalpers, also known as touts.
Coldplay, Dua Lipa, Radiohead and Sam Fender are all signatories to a joint statement published Thursday (Nov. 13), in which artists, managers and fan groups are asking Starmer to commit to resale price cap legislation in the U.K.
Related
In its manifesto for the 2024 general election, the Labour Party proposed policies for new consumer protections on ticket resales. This evolved into an industry consultation in January, which invited views from venues, promoters, fans and other parties on a resale price cap, considering options from face value to a 30% uplift.
On Oct. 5, seven months after the consultation closed, the U.K.’s culture minister, Ian Murray, confirmed that the current Labour government would press ahead with plans for a price cap on resale tickets — but the specifics of these plans have yet to be revealed.
Now, dozens of industry figures are calling for the Prime Minister to make the commitment to price cap legislation in the next King’s Speech, which is set to take place next spring.
In the statement, the coalition says new protections are needed to “help fix elements of the extortionate and pernicious secondary ticketing market that serve the interests of touts, whose exploitative practices are preventing genuine fans from accessing the music, theatre and sports they love.”
Related
It adds: “For too long certain resale platforms have allowed touts to bulk buy and then resell tickets at inflated prices, forcing fans to either pay above the odds or miss out entirely. This erodes trust in the live events sector and undermines the efforts of artists and organisers to make shows accessible and affordable. Introducing a cap will restore faith in the ticketing system, help democratise public access to the arts in line with the Government’s agenda and make it easier for fans to spot illegal behaviour, such as ticketing fraud.”
Alongside the aforementioned names, the list of signatories includes The Cure’s Robert Smith, New Order, Mark Knopfler, Iron Maiden, PJ Harvey, alt-J, Aluna Francis, Bastille, Ben Howard, Brix Smith, Mogwai, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds and Nubiyan Twist. (View the full list below.)
With the statement on Thursday, the group of signatories joins consumer choice organisation Which?, the FanFair Alliance, O2 and the Football Supporters’ Association, along with organisations representing the music and theatre industries, venues, managers and ticket retailers, among others.
The statement arrives alongside a new investigation from Which?, which outlines the global touting operations targeting the U.K.’s ticketing industry. The group identified prolific scalpers in locations including Brazil, Dubai, Singapore, Spain and the United States, all of whom were bulk-buying tickets for live music and sporting events in the U.K. before relisting them at inflated prices on platforms such as StubHub and Viagogo.
Related
Examples of this practice included tickets for Oasis’ Wembley Stadium shows, which were listed for prices as high as £3,498.85 ($4,594.04) on StubHub and £4,442 ($5832.41) on Viagogo. Another finding showed that a seat for the recent Minnesota Vikings vs. Cleveland Browns NFL clash at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was listed for £3,568.39 ($4685.35) on StubHub.
Elsewhere, Which? also found multiple cases of speculative selling, which is when tickets are listed on secondary sites for double the price — even though the seller has not bought them yet.
In a press release, Lisa Webb, a consumer law expert at Which?, said: “Today’s joint statement makes clear that artists, fan organisations and consumers reject the broken ticketing market that has allowed touts to thrive for too long. The Prime Minister pledged to protect fans and a price cap on resold tickets will be a critical step towards fixing this industry, but he must commit to this legislation by including it in the next King’s Speech.”
Webb concluded: “Further reforms are also needed to ensure sellers actually own the tickets they advertise before listing them, that resale platforms ensure the identities of sellers and key information about a ticket are verified and that the new rules are effectively enforced.”
Artist signatories: Alfa Mist, alt-J, Aluna Francis, Amy Macdonald, Andro, Bastille, Ben Howard, Brix Smith, Charlotte OC, Coldplay, Dana Margolin (Porridge Radio), Dua Lipa, Graeme Park, Howard Jones, Idlewild, Iron Maiden, Johnny Marr, Keane, Kelli-Leigh, Low Island, Mark Knopfler, Mogwai, New Order, Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, Nick Mason, Nubiyan Twist, Orlando Higginbottom, PJ Harvey, Quantic, Radiohead, Revenge of Calculon, Robert Mitchell, Robert Smith (The Cure), Sam Fender, SNAYX, Sweetie Irie, The New Eves, Travis.
Organisations: Fan Fair Alliance, Featured Artists Coalition, Football Supporters Association, LIVE, Music Managers’ Forum, Music Venue Trust, Musicians’ Union, O2, Society of London Theatre & UK Theatre, Society of Ticket Agents and Retailers (STAR), UK Music, Which?.
Trending on Billboard
Long live CMAT summer. The Irish pop star has been revealed as the latest headliner for the 2026 edition of London’s Lido Festival, performing on June 12.
The booking marks the Irish pop star’s first-ever U.K. festival headline slot. It follows a stellar year that has seen her cross over into the mainstream and deliver much talked-about performances at high-profile events including Glastonbury, All Points East and Green Man.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
She will be joined by a stacked bill of artists on the day, with supports including Father John Misty and Sharon Van Etten & The Attachment Theory. The other names confirmed to appear so far are: Beverly Glenn-Copeland and Elizabeth Copeland, Getdown Services, Katy J Pearson, Junior Brother, Jacqui McShee’s Pentangle and Zakia (DJ).
Tickets for the event, which will take place in Victoria Park, go on sale on Thursday (Nov. 13) at 10 a.m. (BST). More information can be found at the festival’s official website.
In August, CMAT (born Ciara Mary-Alice Thompson) unveiled her third studio album EURO-COUNTRY via AWAL. Upon release, the record hit No. 2 on the Official U.K. Albums Chart, her highest placing on the chart to date.
The continued success of EURO-COUNTRY has also seen the songwriter land a Mercury Prize 2025 nomination, as well embark on sold-out tours across the U.K. and the U.S. The LP follows 2023’s Crazymad For Me and her debut album If My Wife New I’d Be Dead, released the year prior.
The inaugural Lido festival took place this year, welcoming 35,000 fans a night with Charli xcx, Jamie xx, Massive Attack and London Grammar all topping the bill across two weeks of shows.
Named after Victoria Park’s Lido Field, the event has a strong focus on sustainability and holds community events during the week. Its second iteration will also include electronic duo Maribou State, who are headlining the festival on June 20.
Trending on Billboard
Iceland Airwaves managing director Ísleifur Thorhallsson, beaming in a festival-branded baseball cap, radiates enthusiasm as you enter NASA, a postcard-pretty conference hall in downtown Reykjavík, Iceland. “You can already feel the energy everywhere in the city,” he says on the eve of the festival’s 2025 edition. “This festival is built purely off passion.”
For four bustling days (Nov. 5-8), that sentiment rings true across nearly every corner of the city. Step inside the lobby of Center Hotels Laugavegur – where dozens of international industry figures congregate for the week – and you’re greeted by a 4K TV screen, playing music videos from Icelandic artists on loop. Festival posters transform Nordic-style buildings with bold splashes of colour. “Reykjavík Music City” tote bags swing on the shoulders of conference attendees, who exchange ideas over black coffee and thick slabs of hjónabandssaela – or “happy marriage cake,” a traditional rhubarb jam tart.
Launching in 1999 as a one-off weekender in an airplane hangar, Iceland Airwaves is now recognised as a premier event in the European festival calendar. Its guiding philosophy stems from how Reykjavík makes a lot of noise on the global stage, despite having a population of only 139,000; it’s a city that, through government grants and a cluster of marketing agencies focused on promoting music abroad, invests deeply in culture and empowers its artists.
Over the years, Iceland Airwaves has played host to acts that have gone on to become global stars, including Fontaines D.C. and Florence + The Machine, while also consistently showcasing a wide array of Icelandic talent. As with any new music festival, the trick is to come with an open mind and get ready to uncover acts ready to make a name for themselves.
Homegrown success stories that have come up through the festival in recent years include jazz-pop maestro Laufey, who played two sold-out nights at Madison Square Garden in October, and Grammy-nominated pianist Ólafur Arnalds. The international profile of Iceland’s music shows that locals already know that a prominent slot can be a key next step for a local artist’s success, but as has become the norm with this festival, delegates from across the U.K., US and Europe were invited to listen in and watch the magic unfold, too.
To that end, Iceland Airwaves holds its place as a tastemaker event, platforming breakthrough acts from both sides of the Atlantic as well as giving a boost to the future stars of its country. These were the biggest takeaways from 2025’s edition.
Gen Z Is Redefining the Festival Experience…
Trending on Billboard
Corinne Bailey Rae will headline the second edition of Billboard U.K. Live, a new live music series celebrating artists who shape culture and define sound.
In partnership with Aviva, who joins as Presenting Partner, Billboard U.K. will bring fans, leaders and industry leaders together for a one-night-only experience that blends performance and storytelling.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
Taking place at Manchester’s Aviva Studios, home of Factory International, on Dec. 2, Grammy Award-winning artist Corinne Bailey Rae will perform an intimate set in The Hall, as well as partake in an exclusive Q&A session with Billboard U.K. editor Thomas Smith.
Tickets for the event are free and will be awarded via a ballot. Register here before Nov. 17, 9 a.m. GMT for the chance to win two tickets for you and a guest. Successful applicants will be contacted by Nov. 19. Attendees must be age 18 or over.
Throughout an illustrious career, Bailey Rae has established herself as a singular voice in British music. Her self-titled 2005 debut LP peaked at No. 1 on the U.K.’s Official Albums Chart, spawning hits “Put Your Records On” and “Like a Star.” She collected a Grammy in 2012 for best R&B performance, and two of her albums, The Sea (2010) and Black Rainbows (2023), were nominated for the Mercury Prize.
The latter record saw the singer-songwriter pen a striking meditation on the history of Black experience she discovered at the Stony Island Arts Bank archive in Chicago. It landed her vast acclaim in the U.K., with critics praising Bailey Rae’s genre-spanning approach, blending influences across rock, electronica, jazz, hardcore punk and the African diaspora.
“We can’t wait to welcome audiences to Aviva Studios for an incredible night with Corinne Bailey Rae, brought to life through our exciting partnership with Billboard U.K.,” said Tom Whiteside, group head of sponsorship, Aviva. “This is all about celebrating music, creativity and the unique energy of this amazing venue.”
The show will follow the inaugural Billboard U.K. Live experience, which took place at The Great Escape festival in Brighton this past May. The event featured a wealth of emerging talent including Daffo, RIP Magic and Westside Cowboy, alongside headliners English Teacher, the winners of the 2024 Mercury Prize.
“Our collaboration with Aviva reflects a shared vision to create meaningful moments for artists and their fans across the U.K.,” said Elizabeth Crisante, chief commercial officer, Billboard U.K. “Hosting Corinne Bailey Rae at Aviva Studios brings that vision to life, with a globally acclaimed artist performing in one of the country’s most inspiring cultural spaces.”
Stay tuned to uk.billboard.com and @billboarduk on social media for further information on the event.
Trending on Billboard
After an absence of seven years, Radiohead returned to the stage on Tuesday night (Nov. 4) for a career-spanning set at Madrid’s Movistar Arena.
The highly anticipated show was the first of a sold-out 20-date run, which will see the Oxford-formed band play across the U.K. and Europe – including a four-night residency at London’s O2 Arena – with shows in Madrid, Bologna, Copenhagen and Berlin through November and December.
This was the first time the band had performed together live onstage since summer 2018, when they performed at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Aug. 1. In a press statement released earlier this year, drummer Philip Selway explained what it meant for the five-piece to reunite.
“Last year, we got together to rehearse, just for the hell of it,” he said. “After a seven-year pause, it felt really good to play the songs again and reconnect with a musical identity that has become lodged deep inside all five of us.”
Radiohead called a hiatus after wrapping up an extensive world tour in support of their last full-length effort, 2016’s A Moon Shaped Pool. The record became their sixth No. 1 on the U.K.’s Official Album Charts and hit No. 3 on the Billboard 200, and landed them a Coachella headline slot in 2017.
Each member has remained active and recording, most notablly frontman Thom Yorke and guitarist Jonny Greenwood, who formed The Smile with drummer Thom Skinner and released three studio LPs. Radiohead-related activity ramped up over the past year with a live reissue of 2003 album Hail to the Thief and reworked version of that LP appearing in a Manchester production of Hamlet.
Personal loss and emotional burnout contributed to the group’s decision to step back from the stage. In a recent interview, frontman Thom Yorke reflected on the touring activity for A Moon Shaped Pool. “I guess the wheels came off a bit, so we had to stop,” Yorke said. “The shows felt great but it was, like, let’s halt now before we walk off this cliff.”
He also discussed his personal grief following the death of his first wife, Dr. Rachel Owen, in late 2016, whom he had separated from a year earlier. “I needed to stop anyway, because I hadn’t really given myself time to grieve,” he said. “My grief was coming out in ways that made me think, I need to take this away.”
Having since given way to reflection, Radiohead appeared rejuvenated onstage in Madrid. The band played a 25-song set, encompassing some of the most taut and tender moments from their nine studio albums. The show was opened by “Let Down,” a song from 1997’s OK Computer that has become a streaming sensation in recent months, and the song debuted at No. 91 on the Billboard Hot 100 in August to give them their first appearance on the chart since 2008’s “Nude.”
The setlist – which is expected to vary night to night – featured a number of big hits (“Karma Police”) and fan favorites (“Weird Fishes/Arpeggi”), but omitted some of their most well-known songs, too, including “Creep” from 1994’s Pablo Honey.
Here’s a look at the setlist from Radiohead’s return to the stage at Madrid’s Movistar Arena.
“Let Down”
Trending on Billboard
Lily Allen will take her acclaimed West End Girl LP on tour in 2026 throughout the U.K. The shows will make for the British star’s first full tour in seven years.
Allen released West End Girl on Friday (Oct. 24) via BMG and the record shares intimate and explicit details on the breakdown of her marriage to Stranger Things star David Harbour; the pair were married in 2020 and separated earlier this year.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
The 40-year-old will play the album in full at a run of dates in March 2026, kicking off at Glasgow’s Royal Concert Hall on March. 2. She’ll then play a run of shows that take her to Liverpool, Birmingham, Sheffield, Manchester, Nottingham, Cambridge, Bristol, Cardiff, wrapping up with two nights at the London Palladium on March 21.
The show – Lily Allen Performs West End Girl – will see the singer-songwriter perform her brand-new album in its entirety and in the order the songs appear on the record. Tickets for the shows go on sale at 10 a.m. (GMT) next Friday (Nov. 7).
West End Girl is Allen’s first album since 2018’s No Shame and her fifth overall. Allen’s debut solo single “Smile” from Alright, Still hit No. 1 on the U.K. charts in 2006, and she has two chart-topping LPs to her name: It’s Not Me, It’s You (2009) and Sheezus (2014).
The album details alleged infidelity by a partner, assumed to be Harbour. On the tracks “West End Girl” and “Nonmonogamummy,” Allen details a situation in which she felt pressured to enter into an open relationship, the terms of which were subsequently violated by her partner. On songs such as “Madeline” and “P—y Palace,” she also sings about alleged infidelity. The pair tied the knot in an intimate ceremony in Las Vegas in 2020 after meeting on dating app Raya the year prior.
Speaking to Interview magazine, however, Allen says that some creative license has been used in her songwriting, disclosing that “some of it is based on truth and some of it is fantasy.” She also detailed the songwriting process and her feelings on the songs now that she is removed from the relationship. “At the time, I was really trying to process things, and that’s great in terms of the album, but I don’t feel confused or angry now. I don’t need revenge,” Allen said.
“I wrote this record in 10 days in December, and I feel very differently about the whole situation now,” she added. “We all go through breakups and it’s always f—ing brutal.”
Lily Allen U.K 2026 tour dates:
March 2: Glasgow, Scotland @ Glasgow Royal Concert Hal
March 3: Liverpool, England @ Liverpool Philharmonic Hall
March 5: Birmingham, England @ Birmingham Symphony Hall
March 7: Sheffield, England @ Sheffield City Hall
March 8: Newcastle, England @ Newcastle City Hall
March 10: Manchester, England @ Manchester Aviva Studios, The Hall
March 11: Manchester, England @ Manchester Aviva Studios, The Hall
March 14: Nottingham, England @ Nottingham Royal Concert Hall
March 15: Cambridge, England @ Cambridge Corn Exchange
March 17: Bristol, England @ Bristol Beacon
March 18: Cardiff, Wales @ Cardiff New Theatre
March 20: London, England @ London Palladium
March 21: London, England @ London Palladium
Billboard’s Live Music Summit will be held in Los Angeles on Nov. 3. For tickets and more information, click here.
Trending on Billboard
Hampshire’s Boomtown Festival has unveiled its lineup for 2026’s event, featuring names from all across the musical spectrum.
Next year’s edition will take place at the Matterley Estate in the south of England on Aug. 12-16. Since its inception in 2009, the festival has annually built itself around an overarching “Chapter” that plays out via themed on-site installations, with next year’s theme being “Chapter 5: Radical Redesign.”
Kneecap, Scissor Sisters, Skrillex, Four Tet, Ashnikko, Faithless, Scooter and Shaggy lead the way among the first names announced for 2026, alongside ska icons Madness and rapper Eve.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
Joining them on the lineup will be Antony Szmierek, Bad Manners, Big Special, Brutalismus 3000, Groove Armada, High Vis, Princess Nokia, Sampa the Great, Shy FX, Skindred, Vengaboys, Wilkinson and more.
Public transport tickets go on sale via Boomtown’s official website on Oct. 30, with general entry tickets going live the following day. More announcements are set to be made about the lineup and across the festival’s theater and immersive art offerings.
Previous performers at the event have included Maribou State, Overmono, The Prodigy, Peaches, Gorillaz and Ezra Collective.
In a press release, Boomtown cofounder Luke Mitchell spoke about the festival’s pivot toward a genre-spanning bill, whereas in the past, it focused on largely booking drum n’ bass acts. “While bass music has dominated in recent years and will always be at our core, we’re making a conscious move to keep Boomtown musically diverse and unpredictable,” he said. “Expect more live bands and more cross-genre adventures. That’s where Boomtown began, and it’s what keeps us on the truest path forward”
Kneecap released its debut album, Fine Art, in 2024 via Heavenly Recordings, and has since gone on to play major festivals including Glastonbury and Coachella. On Sept. 18, the Irish rap trio headlined London’s Wembley Arena, where it was joined by Massive Attack.
Scissor Sisters, meanwhile, are in the midst of a comeback campaign that has seen the group hit up arenas in the U.K. and Ireland, as well as take a co-headline tour with Kesha across North America this past summer.
See the 2025 Boomtown lineup below:
Billboard’s Live Music Summit will be held in Los Angeles on Nov. 3. For tickets and more information, visit the event’s website.
Trending on Billboard
Women In CTRL, a non-profit advocacy group, announced Thursday (Oct. 23) that more than a dozen British live music organizations have signed a pledge designed to strengthen inclusion targets across the industry.
The Seat at the Table Inclusion Pledge, the first of its kind in the U.K., is centered around a new sector-wide commitment to achieving gender-balanced leadership by 2030.
Related
Signees of the pledge include ATC Live and Ginger Owl, and companies including AEG and The O2. All 15 LIVE (Live Music Industry Venues & Entertainment) organisations have also signed up, including the Association of Independent Festivals, Featured Artists Coalition and Music Managers Forum.
As supporters of the pledge, industry allies will contribute to case studies, share learning across the sector, and participate in future roundtables and peer learning sessions. Women In CTRL says this collaboration will be key to strengthening accountability across the live music ecosystem.
Signatories will also be required to commit to submitting an annual check-in to show progression across key focus areas, such as strengthening governance and board diversity through reviews or term limits.
In April, Women In CTRL and LIVE released a landmark report titled Seat at the Table: LIVE Edition. Its findings highlighted progress in some areas — including the finding that 61% of the Music Venue Trust board identifies as women or non-binary — while also revealing disparities in wider leadership representation.
Related
Forty-one percent of board members across LIVE and its 15 member organisations are women or non-binary people, the report stated. LIVE has since released its 2030 inclusion targets, which include 50% women and non-binary representation and 16% women from global majority backgrounds in senior leadership roles.
Elsewhere, the report revealed that women’s representation on U.K. music trade association boards rose from 32% in 2020 to 52% in 2024.
Gaby Cartwright, head of partnerships at LIVE, said in a press release at the time the report was released, “As an industry, it’s clear that we must do more to improve gender representation at the highest levels… Reaching this goal will require collective effort, accountability, and meaningful action — but momentum is building. This report provides crucial insight into the challenges we face, and the concrete steps needed to drive lasting change.”
Nadia Khan, founder of Women In CTRL, added at the time, “We know from experience that what gets measured, gets done. This report is an essential first step; by setting a clear benchmark, we are providing the industry with a roadmap for action, not simply reflection.”To read the full Seat at the Table: LIVE Edition report, visit the Women In CTRL website here.
Johnny Marr has spoken on his decision to turn down an “eye-watering” amount of money to reunite The Smiths, saying that the “vibe” wasn’t right to get the band back together.
Explore
See latest videos, charts and news
See latest videos, charts and news
Marr was appearing on the Stick to Football podcast alongside former players Roy Keane, Gary Neville and Ian Wright to discuss his affinity with soccer club Manchester City and his role as guitarist in one of indie music’s most legendary bands.
The Smiths were formed by Marr in 1982 when he and a friend recruited Morrissey to join the group as vocalist and lyricist; the band’s classic lineup was completed by Mike Joyce (drums) and Andy Rourke (bass).
Trending on Billboard
The group released four studio albums between 1984 and 1987 alongside a number of live albums and B-side and singles collections. Meat is Murder (1985) and The Queen is Dead (1986) both hit No. 1 on the U.K.’s Official Albums Chart; their debut The Smiths (1984) and final record Strangeways, Here We Come (1987) both hit No. 2. Creative and personal differences between Marr and Morrissey saw the former leave the group in July 1987 and the group folded the following year.
Both Marr and Morrissey have had wildly successful solo careers but a reunion has seemed unlikely ever since. In 2006, Moz told the BBC, “I would rather eat my own testicles than reform the Smiths, and that’s saying something for a vegetarian.”
In August 2024, however, Morrissey claimed that he and Marr had received a “lucrative offer” from AEG to reform with the band’s surviving members, and to tour as a live band in 2025; the group’s bassist Andy Rourke died in 2023. In the post on his website Morrissey Central, Moz revealed that he had said yes to the proposal but that Marr had not responded. A month later, Marr said on his Instagram that he did not “ignore the offer — I said no.”
Now speaking on the Stick to Football podcast Marr has gone into more detail about why he turned down the offer, despite seeing close friends (and City supporters) Liam and Noel Gallagher reform Oasis in August 2024 for a global tour.
“We got made an offer recently, but I said no,” he said. “It was a little bit about principles, but I’m not an idiot, I just think the vibe’s not right.”
Marr added, “It was an eye-watering amount of money, but also, I really like what I’m doing now which makes it a lot easier. I like where I’m at. I still want to write the best song I’ve ever written. I want to be a better performer.”
Morrissey and Marr have traded barbs through the press for decades, and in 2022 Morrissey called on his former bandmate to “stop mentioning my name” in interviews. Marr responded saying, “When you’re attacked out of the blue, particularly in public, you have to defend yourself.”
Speaking to Uncut he said the pair are too estranged to ever work together again. “It won’t come as any surprise when I say that I’m really close with everyone I’ve worked with — except for the obvious one. And that isn’t that much of a surprise because we’re so different, me and Morrissey.”
Following The Smiths’ dissolution, Marr played as a member of a number of groups including The Pretenders, Electronic (with New Order’s Bernard Sumner), The The, Modest Mouse and The Cribs. In 2013 he launched a solo career and has released four LPs under his name and performed on global tours.
Earlier this week Marr expressed support for Kneecap during their ongoing controversy, and backed them to perform at Glastonbury Festival next weekend (June 27-29) amid calls for them to be removed from the line-up.
Check out Marr’s appearance on the Stick to Football podcast below.
