In a sullen episode befitting some of his more gloomy lyrics, Morrissey, lead singer of the Smiths, has abruptly shut down an email address he was promoting to sell his business interests in the band.
The notoriously saturnine frontman blamed “disagreeable and vexatious characters” involved with the band for his sudden decision, and claimed he had endured decades of misery, in a post on Friday on his website morrisseycentral.com.
Earlier this week, Morrissey, 66, who dropped his first names Steven Patrick when he became a performer, said he was selling his stake in the band “to any interested party/investor”, and invited inquiries to the email address eaves7760@gmail.com.
However, the email address did not appear to exist, generating an automated bounce back response.
The singer, who wrote the lyrics to the Smiths’ biggest hits, including 1984’s Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now, said he was “burnt out by any and all connections to [bandmates Johnny] Marr, [Andy] Rourke, and [Mike] Joyce”.
His post on Friday, which announced that the email address was closing down due to the “colossal response” to his offer, continued the assault on his erstwhile colleagues.
“After thirty-eight years of insults and abuse, Morrissey has had enough,” he wrote in the third person.
“Although Morrissey’s love for the songs of the Smiths era will never waver, he is tired of the disagreeable and vexatious characters involved in ‘The Smiths’ business.”
He pledged that “all, or most” messages to the email address “will be answered in time”.
Representatives for Marr and Joyce declined to comment when contacted by the Guardian this week.
The chapter is in keeping with previous puzzling episodes involving the enigmatic singer, who wore an explicit “Fuck the Guardian” vest at a 2019 concert in Los Angeles after the newspaper reported his far-right leanings, including support for the extremist For Britain nationalist party.
He stated in a separate post on Friday that he “is apolitical and has not ever joined a political party – or voted – in his entire life”, and said he had turned down an invitation to perform at the Reform UK party’s national conference, which ends in Birmingham, England, on Saturday.
