Johnny Marr Tickets

From Manchester teenager to The Smiths

Marr's friendship with Billy Duffy, later guitarist in The Cult, goes back to the 1970s, when Marr was 12 or 13 and already keen on rock music. The Smiths made their live debut at The Ritz in Manchester in 1982, after Marr and two friends persuaded the promoters of a fashion show to let the new band support Blue Rondo A La Turk. They had only three songs ready: The Hand That Rocks the Cradle, Suffer Little Children and Handsome Devil.

The band signed to Rough Trade and introduced themselves with Hand in Glove, then released four albums in four years: The Smiths (1984), Meat Is Murder (1985), The Queen Is Dead (1986) and Strangeways, Here We Come (1987). The band's official history describes Marr's distinctive arpeggios and chiming melodies, kept rooted in a punkish back-to-basics approach, with Andy Rourke's fluid basslines wrapped around his leads. The Queen Is Dead was produced by Morrissey and Marr, with Stephen Street engineering, and carries There Is a Light That Never Goes Out and Bigmouth Strikes Again.

The Smiths' last show came at Brixton Academy in December 1986, a benefit for Artists Against Apartheid that had been postponed after Marr was in a car accident. The band split in 1987, before Strangeways, Here We Come was released.

Electronic and other collaborations

Out of The Smiths, Marr played with Bryan Ferry, the Pretenders, Talking Heads and The The. Bernard Sumner of New Order, whom he had first met in 1984 at a Quando Quango session, then asked for help with a planned solo album, and Neil Tennant of Pet Shop Boys joined them on Electronic's Getting Away With It in 1989. Electronic's self-titled album followed in 1991, with Get the Message and Feel Every Beat among its singles, and the partnership ran through to Twisted Tenderness in 1999.

In 2013 Marr was named for the NME's Godlike Genius Award. For Record Store Day in 2015 he released a cover of Depeche Mode's I Feel You, using guitar feedback to create atmosphere where the original leaned on synths.

Solo albums

His official site lists Boomslang, credited to Johnny Marr + The Healers, then The Messenger, Playland, Call the Comet and Fever Dreams Pts. 1-4, followed by Spirit Power, the live set Look Out Live! and The Age of Everything.

Choosing Johnny Marr tickets

Marr has long played Electronic's Getting Away With It in his solo sets, so a show can travel from his band years to his later songs. A seat with a clear line to his side of the stage suits anyone who wants to watch the guitar work up close, while a raised position gives a fuller picture of the band. Tix Choice compares ticket sellers, which makes it simple to weigh those choices on price, and you can explore more rock acts in the same way.

Tickets currently start from £45. The average starting price across listed events is £60.