Johnny Marr has reacted to Prime Minister Andy Burnham covering The Smiths on guitar during a visit to Kyiv.
The PM, who previously served as Mayor of Greater Manchester, jammed ‘Rusholme Ruffians’ from the band’s 1985 album ‘Meat Is Murder’ alongside a Ukrainian soldier.
“I’m out of practice, a little bit,” he said as he strummed the instrument. He also explained: “It’s a song by a Manchester band called The Smiths.”
Burnham’s first visit to Ukraine as PM saw him go to the country’s military and artistic unit, who perform on the front lines, in hospitals and at rehabilitation centres.
During a new interview with Absolute Radio, Marr was asked about the PM covering The Smiths. “I’ve only just been told about it, in great detail,” he responded.
“I think it’s an amazing thing. In all honesty, for me, it’s like a victory for the guitar. [It’s] just the way I’m wired; I always think like that.”
He continued: “I can’t quite get my head around it. I don’t know whether pride is the word, but it probably is. It’s kind of beyond me to sort of process it, really. Because it could be massive that, but I just sort of go, ‘How great is the guitar?’ What an amazing tool the guitar is, you know?
“My overwhelming feeling was that it was a victory of the guitar, really. So I know that this being political – and obviously with the plight of Ukraine… The more I think about it, the more I think how insignificant I am in it, really.”
Marr then agreed that the nod from Burnham shows the importance of music, globally, adding: “That’s a nice thought – I absolutely agree. And good on him, you know?” Check out a clip of the interview above.
Burnham called The Smiths’ 1984 compilation ‘Hatful Of Hollow’ “the record that changed everything” for him, and has previously hailed it as one of his favourite albums of all time (via The Quietus).
Last month, he featured The Smiths in a blind-ranking of his favourite British bands, along with the likes of Oasis, Elbow and Wolf Alice. Earlier this year, Oasis seemingly endorsed Burnham by permitting him to use ‘Some Might Say’ in a by-election campaign video.
Shortly after becoming Prime Minister, Burnham announced that music venues, clubs and pubs in England would get a 20 per cent cut in business rates next year. The costs will be funded following a review of the tax reliefs given to companies “such as vape shops”.
Elsewhere, Radiohead’s Thom Yorke, members of Massive Attack, and Robert Smith of The Cure are among the 200 major artists calling on Burnham’s government to block the proposed development of the controversial new Rosebank oil field in the North Sea.
There is now pressure on the PM to remove expensive, prohibitive barriers of the post-Brexit touring crisis, crack down on the copyright exceptions in relation to AI, and make good on the government’s previous promises to ban ticket touts.
This spring, Burnham helped confirm that Manchester festival Beyond The Music – which he helped found – would be returning in 2026. He is set to participate in this year’s edition in October.
