Johnny Marr pays tribute to Andy Rourke on what would have been his 60th Birthday
17 January 2024, 12:08
The former Smiths guitarist has paid tribute to the late bassist and his former bandmate on social media.
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Johnny Marr has paid tribute to Andy Rourke what would have been his 60th Birthday.
The much-loved Smiths bassist died away on 19th May 2023 and his former bandmate has taken to social media to mark the first birthday since his passing.
Taking to Instagram today (Wednesday 17th January), Marr shared a photo of himself looking up at a backdrop of Rourke with the simple caption: "Happy Birthday Andy x".
The shot was taken from his duo of shows at A Night With The Johnny Marr Orchestra, which him Marr celebrate 10 years of his solo career, joined by a 30-piece orchestra led by conductor Fiona Brice and comprised of musicians from across the North.
Marr chose to end the milestone night with a photo of Rourke, which he looked up and applauded with his fellow performers on stage.
It was Marr who announced the news of Rourke's death last year with a statement shared on X (formerly Twitter),which read: Marr, his friend and former bandmate, took to Twitter to announce the news, with a photo of the late musician alongside a statement: "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"
It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Andy Rourke after a lengthy illness with pancreatic cancer.
— Johnny Marr (@Johnny_Marr) May 19, 2023
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
Manchester-born Rourke played on The Smiths' most iconic tracks, including This Charming Man, There Is a Light That Never Goes Out and also on various Morrissey singles.
The musician was also part of the supergroup Freebass, which also included The Stone Roses Gary 'Mani' Mounfield and Joy Division and New Order guitarist Peter Hook.
During his career, Rourke also recorded with the likes of The Pretenders, Badly Drawn Boy, Sinead O'Connor and Killing Joke.
