The Smiths

How low can you go? Singer Iestyn Davies’s melancholic playlist

What connects a tea towel, a double-decker bus and a facial? The countertenor picks his 10 favourite tracks that distil the beauty of tears, pull at the heart strings and suspend time

Iestyn Davies

25, Oct, 2022 @1:06 PM

Alvvays’ Molly Rankin: ‘We drive people crazy with the things that we want’

After a five year wait, the Canadian indie-rock band have returned with Blue Rev, one of the best records of the year. Their lead singer and guitarist reflects on perfectionism, Morrissey fandom and creating a sound that’s ‘strange and familiar’

Shaad D'Souza

11, Oct, 2022 @9:00 AM

The 100 greatest BBC music performances – ranked!

As the Beeb celebrates its centenary, we take a look at its most memorable pop moments, from the birth of grime to the first sightings of Bob Dylan and Bob Marley, plus TOTP goes Madchester and countless classic Peel sessions

Guardian music

06, Oct, 2022 @12:12 PM

‘The Queen’s gone round the bend!’ – HM in pop, from the Smiths to Slowthai to the Stone Roses

She’s been called a fascist, a parasite and a pretty nice girl who doesn’t have a lot to say. So are all pop songs about the monarch treasonous? And are they really directed at her?

Dorian Lynskey

01, Jun, 2022 @5:00 AM

Johnny Marr: ‘When I play Smiths songs I experience this huge wave of elation’

On the eve of his new double album, the acclaimed songwriter takes questions from musicians, politicians and readers

Tim Lewis

06, Feb, 2022 @8:00 AM

There is a fight that never goes out: Morrissey accuses Johnny Marr of using him as clickbait

‘Must you persistently, year after year, decade after decade, blame me for everything?’ singer writes in open letter to former Smiths bandmate

Laura Snapes

26, Jan, 2022 @11:08 AM

Rick Astley and Blossoms review – the ultimate Smiths karaoke shouldn’t work, but it does

With quiff, microphone twirls and in-ear monitors resembling hearing aids, 55-year-old Astley makes an an eerily good Morrissey

Dave Simpson

10, Oct, 2021 @5:02 PM

Rick Astley on his Smiths covers gigs: ‘I’ll use a karaoke machine if I have to’

Ahead of his two Morrissey-channelling gigs with Blossoms, the singer talks Twitter, his London pub and how he once followed Andy Rourke around the Arndale centre

Rich Pelley

22, Sep, 2021 @9:30 AM

From Factory Records to Oasis: a musical tour of Manchester

A new exhibition on the seminal Manchester label is the start of a musical homage taking in the roots of Joy Division, the Smiths et al

Gavin McOwan

18, Jun, 2021 @6:00 AM

Johnny Rogan obituary

Music biographer whose tenacity and meticulous attention to detail did not always please his subjects

Chris Charlesworth

18, Feb, 2021 @12:46 PM

The Avalanches' teenage obsessions: 'I cried hearing Strawberry Fields Forever'

With the release of their new album this month, the Australian psych-poppers reminisce about BMX bikes, Christian Slater and Morrissey’s potent melancholy

Interview by Rhi Storer

02, Dec, 2020 @7:00 AM