Copyright Parade
Even decades after The Smiths broke up, tensions among the band members still linger. Drummer Mike Joyce says he hasn’t spoken to frontman Morrissey in more than 30 years after a lawsuit over royalties. In his new book, The Drums, Joyce reflects on the legal battles and offers his perspective on the legacy of one of the U.K.’s most complicated bands. While some fans have long hoped for a reunion, that prospect seems unlikely, as Joyce hasn’t spoken to Morrissey in 33 years. Speaking to The Guardian about his book, Joyce recalled running into Morrissey in 1992 in Altrincham, England. “From what I’ve gleaned, he’s certainly got very different politics to mine,” Joyce said. “But that’s his opinion. He just seems very angry about a lot of things. Of course I hear it — people saying, ‘I can’t listen to The Smiths. I can’t separate the art from the artist.’ If that’s how you feel, that’s fine.” Despite the years of silence, Joyce is careful to separate his personal feelings from his respect for Morrissey as an artist. He added, “I don’t want it to sound like I didn’t like Morrissey. He was f****** great. Very funny bloke, cutting humor. But it was such an unusual relationship. There was a distance. I accepted we were just very different people.” Joyce’s position in the band’s financial setup may have contributed to the distance. With only Morrissey and guitarist Johnny Marr listed on the band’s Rough Trade contract, Joyce and bassist Andy Rourke were informed post-split that they weren’t eligible for continuing royalties. “I think it sounded like The Smiths because of the four of us,” he explained regarding the joint lawsuit he filed with Rourke. “I thought that if I didn’t, then nobody would ever know what happened. I just wanted what I thought was due to me, and what was right.” While Rourke settled early, Joyce pursued the case all the way to trial in 1996, ultimately being awarded £1 million. The lawsuit also caused a rift between Joyce and Marr, who didn’t speak again until Rourke’s memorial service in 2023. “It was good to see him. Because it wasn’t about court cases or who did what. It was about Andy,” he recalled. The overall strain left Joyce out of the loop on many of the band’s developments — especially when Morrissey revealed last year that The Smiths had been offered a substantial payday for a reunion. “I forfeited that with the court case,” he explained, adding that he now has “no skin in the game” when it comes to the band’s business affairs.
