Smiths bassist Andy Rourke has died at the age of 59

Europe1 .fr with AFP 13:59 p.m., May 19, 2023

Smiths bassist Andy Rourke has died of pancreatic cancer at the age of 59, Johnny Marr, the former guitarist of this flagship band of English indie rock of the 1980s, announced Friday. "It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Andy Rourke after a long illness, pancreatic cancer," Johnny Marr wrote on his Twitter account, linked to his official website.

It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Andy Rourke after a lengthy illness with pancreatic cancer.
Andy will be remembered as a kind and beautiful soul by those who knew him and as a supremely gifted musician by music fans. 
We request privacy at this sad time pic.twitter.com/KNehQxXoFz

— Johnny Marr (@Johnny_Marr) May 19, 2023

"Those who knew him will remember Andy as a kind and beautiful soul, fans as an extremely gifted musician," he added on Instagram, where he posted a photo of them as a young man. "Andy and I met at school in 1975," he wrote, "we were best friends, we went everywhere together."

Andy Rourke began music, guitar and bass, at the age of 11. He joined with Johnny Marr the funk band Freak Party. Without being the first bass player of the group, he joined the Smiths in the year of its formation, in 1982.

The band from Manchester, in the north of England, has distinguished itself with its album "The Queen is Dead", released in 1986. The band broke up the following year. Andy Rourke will then play with Sinead O'Connor, The Pretenders, Badly Drawn Boy, Aziz Ibrahim.

Difficult separation

In The Smiths' albums, Andy Rourke has "reinvented what it's like to play bass guitar," Johnny Marr wrote on Instagram. Among his many collaborations, he worked with Dolores O'Riordan, of The Cranberries, who died in 2018.

Andy Rourke was "not only the most talented bass player I've ever played with, but the most charming and funny guy I've ever met," said former Smiths drummer Mike Joyce. "Andy is gone but his musical legacy is eternal," he added. The bassist of the band Suede, Mat Osman, meanwhile, paid tribute to a "rare bass player", whose "sound was immediately recognizable".

Plagued by heroin addiction and financial difficulties, Andy Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce sued Johnny Marr and singer and lyricist Morrissey in a dispute over the distribution of their royalties two years after the band broke up in 1987.

Morrissey, for his part, has adopted an increasingly reactionary discourse - he had notably appeared in 2019 in an American show with a badge of a British far-right party. He was virulent towards his former comrades, before adopting a more conciliatory tone in his autobiography published in 2013. The band's producer, Stephen Street, expressed his sadness at the passing of Andy Rourke, paying tribute to a "lovely guy and an amazing bass player".