Johnny Marr Says Rick Astley's Smiths Covers Ordeal Has Been "Dealt With"

The Smiths guitarist wasn't necessarily a fan of Astley's and Blossoms' covers

BY Kaelen BellPublished Sep 24, 2021

Johnny Marr was notably a little iffy about Rick Astley's and Blossoms' cover of the Smiths' "This Charming Man" that debuted at a London show last week — and now, he's spoken about it again, saying that the issue's been "dealt with." Cryptic. 

Prior to an upcoming Manchester show that'll see Marr and Blossoms share a bill supporting Courteeners, the Smith's guitarist spoke with NME about his reaction to the cover and the social media response, saying:

"I didn't ask for that, but sometimes stuff like that happens when you're in the public eye," he said. "There was an M.O. there that just wasn't very cool — but I've dealt with it. I think I'm a pretty reasonable person, and I've dealt with it."

As was previously reported, Astley and Blossoms have scheduled a pair of performances that'll exclusively feature Smiths covers in October. The first will take place on October 8 in Manchester, and the second will kick off on October 9 in London.

Morrissey's website Morrissey Central also recently posted an opinion piece about the covers shows, with a fan writing, "Maybe Rick Astley will perform well in the upcoming shows, and perhaps they will be successful and enjoyed by fans — but make no mistake, no other artist can bring to the table what Morrissey can. (Let's face it, there is a reason why artists today like Astley still cover and perform songs written by Morrissey.)"

That said, the fact that these tribute performances bother Morrissey means we can probably slot them into the "good thing" column. 

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