64 Facts About Johnny Marr

Johnny Marr was born on John Martin Maher, 31 October 1963 and is an English musician, songwriter and singer.

Johnny Marr first achieved fame as the guitarist and co-songwriter of the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987.

Johnny Marr has since performed with numerous other bands and embarked on a solo career.

Johnny Marr was part of several bands with Andy Rourke before forming the Smiths with Morrissey in 1982.

Since then, Johnny Marr has been a member of the Pretenders, The The, Electronic, Modest Mouse, and the Cribs, and he has become a prolific session musician, working with names such as Pet Shop Boys, Talking Heads, Bryan Ferry and Hans Zimmer.

Johnny Marr's autobiography, Set the Boy Free, was published in 2016.

In 2010, Johnny Marr was voted the fourth-best guitarist of the last 30 years in a poll conducted by the BBC.

Johnny Marr was born on 31 October 1963 in Saint's Mary's Hospital in Manchester, son of John Joseph Maher and Frances Patricia Doyle, Irish emigrants to England from County Kildare.

Johnny Marr attended St Aloysius Primary School in Ardwick before moving to Sacred Heart Primary School.

Johnny Marr was approached by Nottingham Forest and had trials with Manchester City's youth team.

Johnny Marr learned to play the guitar with LP vinyl records and a guitar chords dictionary without a teacher.

Johnny Marr formed his first band, the Paris Valentinos, at the age of 13, with Andy Rourke and Kevin Williams, performing for the first time at a Jubilee party in Benchill in June 1977, playing Rolling Stones and Thin Lizzy covers.

In October 1980, Johnny Marr enrolled at Wythenshawe College, and was President of the school's Student Union.

Around this time, Johnny Marr first met Matt Johnson, with whom he later collaborated.

Johnny Marr approached Rob Allman, singer in White Dice, who suggested Steven Morrissey, a singer with the short-lived punk band the Nosebleeds.

In July 1987, Johnny Marr left the group, and auditions to find a replacement for him proved fruitless.

Morrissey and Johnny Marr had claimed the lion's share of the Smiths' recording and performance royalties and allowed ten per cent each to Joyce and Rourke.

Johnny Marr's guitar playing "was a huge building block" for more Manchester bands that followed the Smiths.

The Stone Roses guitarist John Squire has stated that Johnny Marr was a major influence.

Johnny Marr then left the Pretenders, and recorded and toured with The The from 1988 to 1994, recording two albums with the group.

Johnny Marr simultaneously formed Electronic with New Order's Bernard Sumner.

Johnny Marr played guitar on four songs on Talking Heads' final album Naked, including the single " Flowers", and he prominently appears in that song's music video.

Johnny Marr played guitar on several Pet Shop Boys songs; he continues to have guest appearances on their albums, with his most significant contribution on Release.

Johnny Marr joined Oasis on stage at a gig in 2001, playing "Champagne Supernova" and "I Am the Walrus".

The band had taken two years to come together as Johnny Marr had wanted members to be chosen "by chemistry".

Johnny Marr performed two Smiths songs and music by others with a supergroup called 7 Worlds Collide consisting of members from Pearl Jam, Radiohead, Split Enz and others, assembled by Neil Finn of Split Enz and Crowded House in 2001.

For Johnny Marr, this was the first time he had had a number one record in the US.

Johnny Marr recorded several guitar tracks on songs "Enough of Me" and "Central".

Johnny Marr joined the Cribs in 2008, after meeting Gary Jarman when they were both in Portland, Oregon.

Johnny Marr has said the album is "as good as anything I've done".

Johnny Marr returned to play with the Cribs during the second of two special Christmas shows at Leeds Academy on 19 December 2013.

Johnny Marr has been working since 2007 with Fender to develop and design his own guitar.

On 25 February 2013, Johnny Marr released his debut solo album, The Messenger, in the UK through Warner Bros.

Johnny Marr announced a worldwide tour around the release of the "Playland" album that commenced in the UK on 13 October 2014.

In October 2014, Johnny Marr appeared as a guest musician for Hans Zimmer at his two concerts, Hans Zimmer: Revealed, at London's Hammersmith Apollo.

In December 2014, Johnny Marr announced the cancellation of the remainder of his US tour, in support of Playland, due to a close family illness.

In January 2016, Johnny Marr announced new and rescheduled dates as part of his West Coast 'California Jam' tour, which took place in the US throughout February and March 2016.

Johnny Marr contributed the track "My Monster" for the Blondie album Pollinator, released on 5 May 2017.

On 12 March 2018 Johnny Marr announced his third solo album, Call the Comet.

Johnny Marr performed a set on The Other Stage at the 2019 Glastonbury Festival on 29 June, and later joined The Killers during their headline set on the Pyramid Stage to play guitar on "This Charming Man" and "Mr Brightside" as part of the band's encore.

Johnny Marr played guitar in the theme song performed by Billie Eilish, and was present during the track's live debut at the 2020 Brit Awards.

Johnny Marr would join the Killers for their 2022 tour to promote the 2020 album Imploding the Mirage, providing an opening act for the American tour dates and joining the Killers for a Smiths cover and "Mr Brightside" in the encore.

The Los Angeles tour date saw the Killers and Johnny Marr performing on stage with former Fleetwood Mac guitarist Lindsey Buckingham.

Johnny Marr's jangly guitar-playing was influenced by Neil Young's work with Crazy Horse, George Harrison and James Honeyman-Scott of the Pretenders.

Additionally, Johnny Marr stated that without the Monochrome Set the Smiths wouldn't have existed.

Johnny Marr forbade himself from using power chords, distortion, lengthy solos, or "big rock chord changes", instead relying on sophisticated arpeggios to create his signature chiming guitar work for the band.

Johnny Marr expressed admiration for Bert Jansch, Yeah Yeah Yeahs' Nick Zinner, and Franz Ferdinand's guitarists Alex Kapranos and Nick McCarthy.

Johnny Marr has used a variety of guitars throughout his career, but these are his most notable instruments:.

Johnny Marr has used Fender Amplifiers almost exclusively throughout his career.

Johnny Marr used a Fender Champ with The The and the Cribs.

Johnny Marr has used other amps, including the Roland JC-120, Vox AC30, Mesa Boogie and Marshall cabinets.

Johnny Marr typically uses Boss effects units notably that company's CE-2 chorus effect, the TW-1 touch wah wah pedal and the OD-2 overdrive pedal.

In 2007 Johnny Marr was appointed as a Visiting Professor in Music at the University of Salford, where he delivered an inaugural lecture, and a series of workshops and masterclasses to students on the BA Popular Music and Recording programme.

On 3 November 2018, Johnny Marr unveiled a plaque in his parents' hometown of Athy in County Kildare, Ireland.

On 19 January 2021, Johnny Marr received the Boss Lifetime Achievement Award as part of NAMM music industry trade show.

Marr is the subject of "Johnny Marr Is Dead" by The Brian Jonestown Massacre; however, he is not mentioned in the lyrics.

Johnny Marr is the subject of Clear's 2003 single satirising the music industry "Johnny Marr Was a Mistake".

Johnny Marr is mentioned in the 1988 single "John Kettley Is a Weatherman" by British band A Tribe of Toffs.

Johnny Marr gave up eating meat around 1985 in solidarity with Morrissey and Angie.

Johnny Marr is a keen runner, and completed the 2010 New York Marathon in a time of 3:54:18.

Johnny Marr has been a supporter of Manchester City FC since 1972, and has been seen attending games.

Johnny Marr plays guitar on Girls Aloud's fifth album, Out of Control, on a track entitled "Rolling Back the Rivers in Time", as well as harmonica on the track "Love Is the Key".

Johnny Marr appeared on two tracks on John Frusciante's album The Empyrean which was released January 2009.

Johnny Marr's recording of "Life Is Sweet", the theme song he wrote for the Channel Four Sitcom The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, was released on Echo Records and is available digitally.