Marr and Morrissey had met at a Patti Smith gig at Manchester's Apollo Theatre on 31 August 1978, when Marr was 14 and Morrissey was 19. In May 1982, Johnny Marr and his friend Steve Pomfret went to the home of Steven Morrissey in Stretford to invite him to form a band.
Their live album Rank (1988) reached the top 10 in Europe. Internal tensions led to their breakup in 1987, followed by lawsuits over royalties the band have refused offers to reunite. They achieved mainstream success in Europe with The Queen Is Dead (1986) and Strangeways, Here We Come (1987), both of which entered the top 20 of the European Albums Chart. Several Smiths singles reached the top 20 of the UK Singles Chart and all their studio albums reached the top five of the UK Albums Chart, including the number-one album Meat Is Murder (1985). Based on the songwriting partnership of Morrissey and Marr, the Smiths' focus on a guitar, bass and drum sound, and fusion of 1960s rock and post-punk, were a rejection of the synth-pop sound that was predominant at the time. The Smiths signed to the independent label Rough Trade Records and released their first album, The Smiths, in 1984. They are regarded as one of the most important acts to emerge from the British independent music scene of the 1980s. Their line-up comprised singer Morrissey, guitarist Johnny Marr, bassist Andy Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce. The Smiths were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1982.
