the bass player of The Smiths, Andy Rourke, has died at the age of 59 from pancreatic cancer, reported on friday Johnny Marr, ex-guitarist of the mythical british band indie rock of the 1980s.
“It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Andy Rourke. after a long illness pancreatic cancer,” he wrote on Twitter.
“Those who knew him will remember Andy such a kind and beautiful soul, fans will remember him as an extremely talented musician.” added on Instagram, along with a photo of both of them when they were young.
Born on January 17, 1964, Rourke was the third of four children., all male. His parents gave him a guitar when I was 7 years old and few after He also started playing bass.
Together with his great childhood friend Marrwhom he met at school, joined the funk band Freak Party.
He was not the first bass player for The Smiths, but joined them the same year they were formed, 1982.
The Manchester Groupin the north of englandwow, rose to fame four years later with the album “The Queen is Dead” (the queen is dead).
They broke up in 1987 and Rourke played from then with musicians like Sinead O’Connor, The Pretenders, Aziz Ibrahim or Dolores O’Riordan, from the Cranberries, who died in 2018.
Andy Rourke, admired by many
He was “not only the most talented bassist with whom I have had the privilege of playing, but the most charming and fun guy that I have known» said Mike Joyce, former drummer for The Smiths.
Mat Osman, bassist for Suede, paid tribute to a “rare bassist” whose “sound was instantly recognizable.”
After the separation of the mythical band, Rourke, iinvolved in a battle against her heroin addiction, she joined Joyce to sue his two ex-colleagues, Marr and singer Morrissey, in a lawsuit on the distribution of royalties.
They finally reached an agreement and childhood friendship between the bassist and guitarist survived.
Morrissey, for his part, was adopting an increasingly reactionary discourse.
In 2019 he appeared in an American television show with a badge of a far-right British party. He was virulent with his former teammates, before adopting a more conciliatory tone in his autobiography published in 2013.