History Music / Morrissey

* ShoutOut: The cover for the 2009 re-release of ''Southpaw Grammar'' was inspired by Music/DavidBowie's ''Music/{{Changesonebowie}}''.

IN 2015, he wrote the novel {{Literature/List of the Lost}}.

Steven Patrick Morrissey (born 22 May 1959), better known as just Morrissey, is a British singer and lyricist who first became known when he emerged in the early '80s as the lead singer of Music/TheSmiths. He went solo shortly after the breakup of the group in 1987 and has been going strong ever since.

* AmbiguousSexuality: His sexuality has been the subject of much speculation and coverage in the British press during his career, with claims varyingly being made that he was celibate, a frustrated heterosexual, or bisexual. Speculation was further fuelled by the frequent references to gay subculture and slang in his lyrics. In 2006 Liz Hoggard from ''The Independent'' said: "Only 15 years after homosexuality had been decriminalised, his lyrics flirted with every kind of gay subculture."

* FriendToAllLivingThings: He's a keen animal lover and supporter of animal rights.

* ThreeMinutesOfWrithing: "November Spawned A Monster". A pretty odd choice because the actual song is about the plight of a disabled woman, and midway through the song an actress, apparently portraying said woman, starts letting out terrifying unintelligible cries. This makes sense if you're paying attention to the lyrics, but if you're too busy watching Morrissey suggestively writhe around rock formations in a desert while wearing tight pants and a mesh v-neck shirt, it just seems inexplicable. When the video appeared on WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead, Beavis told Morrissey to "quit whining, go out and get a job and some good clothes... and another thing, stay away from those rocks!"

%% * ThreeMinutesOfWrithing: The video for "November Spawned a Monster".

* EmbarassingNickname: He dislikes the nickname "Moz", telling one interviewer that "it's like something you'd squirt on the kitchen floor".

!! The man and his work feature examples of:

* {{Adorkable}}: He gave off this vibe earlier in his career, especially when he wore his NerdGlasses.
* AllLoveIsUnrequited: "I Don't Mind If You Forget Me".
* AuthorAppeal: Ruffians, {{serial killer}}s, and leather car seats.
* BigOlEyebrows: UpToEleven!
* {{Bookworm}}: Was positively this in his youth.
* CelibateHero: In the '80s. Recently, he tends to just sidestep the issue of his sexuality.
* CovertPervert
* DeadpanSnarker
* TheEeyore: Happiness notoriously eludes Morrissey.
* EvenTheGuysWantHim: Straight men seem to be the most likely to jump onstage at concerts to hug or kiss him.
* {{Gayngst}}
* GenderIsNoObject
* KindheartedCatLover: From an interview with The Sunday Times:
-->My best friends have been cats. I had one cat for 23 years and one for 22. They just walked into the house, one when I was a small child and one when I was slightly older. I won't say they were like children, because I don't know any children that were actually nice. They were black-and-white and called Buster and Tibby. Tibby had been kicked in the face so he had to be fed by hand. He couldn't eat from a plate. He required a lot of patience but he cured himself and became a healthy, incredibly happy cat. They certainly enriched my life.
* LastNameBasis: Credited as simply "Morrissey" since the Smiths' first single. His fans also often call him by the nickname "Moz".

* LongTitle: Many, often full sentences -- prompting Music/ElvisCostello to remark that he writes good titles, but forgets to write the songs.
* LyricalDissonance
* {{Meganekko}}: A rare male example when he wears his glasses.
* MetaphorIsMyMiddleName: "Action is My Middle Name".

* RefugeInAudacity: Who else would release a song called "I Have Forgiven Jesus"?
* NerdGlasses: Wears them sometimes.
* OnlyOneName: Goes by [[SmallNameBigEgo his surname]].

** In a recent interview he remarked that he might be giving up singing entirely by the end of next year (due to his cancer and the fact that he's simply getting too old): "With luck I will be able to stop singing forever, which would make many people happy!"
---> (from ''Disappointed'') "This is the last song I will ever sing. (''crowd cheers'') / No, I've changed my mind again. (''crowd groans'') / Goodnight and thank you."
* ShirtlessScene: At pretty much every concert.

* ThreeMinutesOfWrithing: The video for "November Spawned a Monster".

* BiTheWay: Or Pan The Way? He has stated in 2013 "Unfortunately, I am not homosexual. In technical fact, I am humasexual. I am attracted to humans. But, of course... not many."

* ''List of the Lost'' (2015), his debut novel. [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_Lost#Reception Received scathingly negative reviews]], perhaps the worst of his career in any medium.

* AuthorAppeal: Ruffians and {{serial killer}}s.

* TakeThat: Often. Better-known targets include [[Music/TheCure Robert Smith]], the British royal family, a long-standing target of his rage (a reference to the Queen first appearing on ''Music/MeatIsMurder'' back in ''1985''), UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher, UsefulNotes/DavidCameron, and Jamie Oliver.

* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: ''Margaret on the Guillotine'' against UsefulNotes/MargaretThatcher, so blatant that he was [[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2465742/Smiths-singer-Morrissey-quizzed-Scotland-Yard-controversial-Thatcher-song-Margaret-Guillotine.html interrogated by Scotland Yard]], and later moaned about it on "He Knows I'd Love to See Him".

--> (from ''Disappointed'') "This is the last song I will ever sing. (''crowd cheers'') / No, I've changed my mind again. (''crowd groans'') / Goodnight and thank you."

** Morrissey spends much of his ''Autobiography'' delivering back-handed {{Take That}}s to his musical peers ([[Music/SiouxsieAndTheBanshees Siouxsie Sioux]]), artists that he'd previously indicated as influences (Music/DavidBowie, Sandie Shaw) and former bandmates. Among the few that are spared harsh treatment are his longtime friend [[Music/ThePretenders Chrissie Hynde]], Bowie guitarist Mick Ronson and his late producer Jerry Finn. Moz writes that he was deeply affected by Finn's death at the young age of 39, shortly after work was finished on ''Years of Refusal''.

[[AC: Discography:]]

-->My best friends have been cats. I had one cat for 23 years and one for 22. They just walked into the house, one when I was a small child and one when I was slightly older. I won't say they were like children, because I don't know any children that were actually nice. They were black-and-white and called Buster and Tibby. Tibby had been kicked in the face so he had to be fed by hand. He couldn't eat from a plate. He required a lot of patience but he cured himself and became a healthy, incredibly happy cat. They certainty enriched my life.

* AuthorAppeal: Ruffians and serial killers.

* TakeThat: Often. Better-known targets include [[Music/TheCure Robert Smith]], the British royal family, a long-standing target of his rage (a reference to the Queen first appearing on Meat is Murder back in ''1985''), Margaret Thatcher, David Cameron, and Jamie Oliver.

* LastNameBasis

Morrissey is a British singer and lyricist who first became known when he emerged in the early '80s as the lead singer of Music/TheSmiths. He went solo shortly after the breakup of the group in 1987 and has been going strong ever since.