Early Beginnings
Steven Patrick Morrissey was born near Manchester, England on May 22, 1959. His parents were Irish immigrants who had moved to England just before he was born, and throughout his life he has maintained an extremely close relationship with his mother, but the dynamic with his father has been rocky at best, and regressed to the point where the two currently are not in contact.
Morrissey was always a bit of an outcast as a child, and his early musical interests were strange when compared to other young boys at the time. He loved the “girl groups” of the 1960’s, and his early influences included Sandie Shaw, Marianne Faithfull, Cilla Black, and Timi Yuro.
As Morrissey moved into adolescence, he became increasingly withdrawn from his peers and fought seemingly-constant battles with depression. He took prescription drugs to help treat the disorder, but eventually he dropped out of school and basically became a recluse, secluding himself with daytime mystery shows and music.
Musical Beginnings
As Morrissey neared the end of his teenage years, he began to fall more deeply in love with music, and became one of the first big-time fans and avid followers of punk rock, well before it was fashionable to do so. He started writing and singing, and even spent a short amount of time fronting a local punk rock band, although they never really achieved any notable success.
He bounced around with different small-time bands throughout the 1970’s, and ultimately found his first musical “home” in 1982 when he helped to form The Smiths. The Smiths were seen as true pioneers of the burgeoning alternative rock genre, and their writing and performances influenced dozens of other bands who would follow. Morrissey enjoyed his run with The Smiths, but the band ultimately went their separate ways in 1987 after serious musical differences began to arise.
Solo Career
Morrissey wasted no time getting started on his solo career, and released his first solo album in 1988. Over the years, Morrissey also perfected his reclusive, emotional on-stage persona, and Morrissey tickets became as much a curiosity as they did an attraction. Overall, he’s released several solo albums, many of which reached platinum and gold status both in the United States and the United Kingdom.
Morrissey has also expanded his personal interests, as he is a noted activist for animal rights, and is a vegan. He has also had his share of clashes with the music industry in general and is a noted and vociferous critic of several well-known political leaders.
If you want to see an artist allow his strange life to be injected into the very foundation of his musical performances and writing, you need to obtain Morrissey tickets to introduce yourself to one of the most unique characters on the scene today.
