When the long-running British music publication NME first published their story, “Smiths to Split,” it was only a rumor. Yet, it was just as much of a surprise to Marr as it was for everyone else. He even believed the story had been leaked by his then-songwriting partner, via Express. But signs of a rift between Marr and Morrissey were already showing in the musical direction that each wanted their band to pursue: Morrissey held fast to his vision of classic 60s-era pop songwriting, while Marr wanted to explore more musical avenues.
In addition, Marr had not only been the band’s lead guitarist and primary songwriting collaborator, but he’d also been managing the group, and the strain of both roles was starting to show in both his personal and professional life. With all of that combined, as well as the NME story, Marr was done with the band. Even though the group had auditioned guitarist Ivor Perry, from the band Easterhouse, to take Marr’s place, it was no use — the Smiths were officially done (via Yardbarker). Marr told The Guardian in 2016, “To this day I haven’t met anyone who thinks a major rock group should be managed by the 23-year-old guitar player.”
