English rock loses one of its figures. Smiths bassist Andy Rourke has died of pancreatic cancer, Johnny Marr, the former guitarist of this flagship band of the 1980s, announced on Twitter on Friday.


It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Andy Rourke after a lengthy illness with pancreatic cancer.
Andy will be remembered as a kind and beautiful soul by those who knew him and as a supremely gifted musician by music fans.
We request privacy at this sad time pic.twitter.com/KNehQxXoFz

— Johnny Marr (@Johnny_Marr) May 19, 2023

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"Those who knew him will remember Andy as a kind and beautiful soul, fans as an extremely gifted musician," he added on Instagram. "Andy and I met at school in 1975," he wrote, "we were best friends, we went everywhere together."

Originally from Manchester, in the north of England, the group was formed in 1982 and distinguished itself with its album The Queen is Dead, released in 1986. In the band's albums, Andy Rourke has "reinvented what it's like to play bass guitar," Johnny Marr wrote on Instagram. The bassist of the band Suede, Mat Osman, paid tribute to a "rare bass player", whose "sound was immediately recognizable".

Agreements and disagreements

Plagued by heroin addiction and financial difficulties, Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce sued Johnny Marr and singer and songwriter Morrissey in a dispute over the distribution of their royalties two years after the band broke up in 1987. An agreement was finally reached and the friendship between the bassist and the guitarist survived.

Morrissey, for his part, has adopted an increasingly reactionary discourse - he had notably appeared in 2019 in an American show with a badge of a British far-right party. He was virulent towards his former comrades, before adopting a more conciliatory tone in his autobiography published in 2013. The band's producer, Stephen Street, expressed his sadness at the passing of Andy Rourke, paying tribute to a "lovely guy and an amazing bass player".

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