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Morrissey Starts Selling The Smiths Merchandise With His Name On It

Mary Varvaris

Iconic 'Meat is Murder' and 'The Queen is Dead' t-shirts appeared on Morrissey's website, with a striking change applied to them.

Morrissey in Adelaide
Morrissey in Adelaide(Credit: Sean Mullarkey)
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In a surprising move, Morrissey has started selling iconic The Smiths merchandise. Only now, the shirts have his name on them.

Consequence of Sound reports that on the UK version of the singer’s online store, MPORIUM, two shirts that are very similar to The Smiths shirts based on 1985’s Meat is Murder and 1986’s The Queen is Dead both appear, but with Morrissey’s name on them, not the band’s. They feature the same images on the band’s merch and the same typography. But they no longer say ‘The Smiths.’

Both shirts have sold out in all sizes.

Selling the merchandise, which has always been associated with The Smiths, comes less than a year after Morrissey said he had “no choice” but to sell his business interests in The Smiths “to any interested party/investor.”

In a post on his blog titled A Soul To Sell, the singer commented that he was “burnt out” by any connections to his former The Smiths bandmates: Johnny Marr, Mike Joyce, and Andy Rourke, the latter of whom passed away in 2023.

He added that “any serious investors” should contact him if they were interested in accessing the singer’s “full and exclusive” rights to the following:

1. The name 'The Smiths', as created by Morrissey.

2. All Smiths artwork, as created by Morrissey.

3. All Smiths merchandising rights.

4. All Smiths songs lyrically / musically.

5. All synchronisation rights.

6. All Smiths recordings.

7. All contractual rights for Smiths publishing.

While Morrissey was trying to sell “full and exclusive” rights to the band, The Music previously reported that Johnny Marr owns 50% of the rights to The Smiths.

In 2024, the guitarist signed an “assignment of joint ownership to Morrissey” and revealed that the pair also registered the band’s trademark “for the mutual benefit of Morrissey & Marr.”

In a 2022 interview, Marr said that he and Morrissey had never fallen out over politics but “probably would” in the present day.

After a fan said they were “so disappointed” in Morrissey’s expression of far-right political views – so much so that it had impacted their relationship with The Smiths’ music – Marr answered that Morrissey’s views “hasn’t impacted” how he feels about the band.