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Steven Patrick Morrissey, professionally known as Morrissey, is a british/irish singer and lyricist born in Davyhulme, Greater Manchester on May 22, 1959.
He was the lead singer of The Smiths, one of the most influential alternative bands in the 1980s. The group split up in 1987 and Morrissey started a successful solo career.
Morrissey is often noted as one of the key pop lyricists of his generation, with many subsequent artists hailing his influence. Themes on which he has touched include child murder, gang violence, domestic violence, prostitution, racism, drug use, homosexuality, disability, assassination, and terrorism. A celebration of the outsider is a constant theme throughout his work.
His first solo album was released in 1988 and was entitled Viva Hate. It was followed by Bona Drag (1990), Kill Uncle (1991), the Mick Ronson-produced Your Arsenal (1992), a live album Beethoven Was Deaf (1993), Vauxhall and I (1994), Southpaw Grammar (1995) and Maladjusted (1997).
Morrissey also recorded a one-off single with the singer Siouxsie : they both sang in duet on Interlude.
A period of musical inactivity followed in the late 90s and early 2000s, which was due to failure in finding a suitable label, according to a 2004 interview with Jools Holland. After seven years without a new album release, You Are the Quarry was released on May 17, 2004 (but one day later in the USA). The first single, Irish Blood, English Heart, was released internationally on May 10, 2004. The single reached number three in its first week of sales in the UK singles chart. |
