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One of Britain's great guitar heroes, Johnny Marr's legendary partnership with Morrissey produced the classic albums Meat Is Murder (1985) and The Queen Is Dead (1986) and made The Smiths gods of the 1980s indie scene. Born and raised in Manchester, Marr (real name John Maher) started playing on a toy Hawaiian guitar as a four-year-old and developed a distinct signature sound inspired by the melodic pop of the 1960s beat bands, the twanging blues of Bo Diddley and the choppy funk of Chic guitarist Nile Rodgers. After The Smiths split in 1987, he played with The Pretenders and The The and teamed up with New Order's Bernard Sumner as Electronic, before seeing his playing style become a key influence on Brit pop in the 1990s. Returning in 2000 as Johnny Marr & The Healers (with a band that included Ringo Starr's son Zak Starkey), he took on vocal duties for the first time on the album Boomslang (2003) and has been highly active ever since, joining Modest Mouse and The Cribs and launching a solo career with the album The Messenger (2013).
Artist biography compiled by BDS/West 10. All rights reserved
