Why Johnny Marr Turned Down The Smiths Reunion Offer (2025 In Review)

12-26-2025

Why Johnny Marr Turned Down The Smiths Reunion Offer was a top 25 story of June 2025 in our look back at the Year In Rock. Here is the original report: Johnny Marr revealed in a new interview that he turned down a very lucrative offer to reunite The Smiths, and explained his reasons for not accepting the opportunity to perform with Morrissey and co again.

Marr appeared on The Overlap podcast and was asked about other bands that have staged big reunions lately, such as Oasis, and why he has rejected offeres to reform The Smiths.

He responded (via Louder, "Yeah, we got made an offer really recently, in fact. But yeah, I said no. I'm not an idiot, I just think the vibe's not right. Bad vibe. It was an eye-watering amount of money, but also, I really like what I'm doing now which makes it a lot easier. I like where I'm at. I still have to work at my craft, I still want to write the best song I've ever written."

Reflecting on the end of The Smiths he shared, "It was horrible. It was untenable really. It was an emotional decision, [but] it wasn't an impulsive decision either. I looked at it for quite a long time and I was really heartbroken about it, really. It was certainly not a career decision."