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Half of Smiths Reunite for Cancer Benefit

After years of acrimony between the members of the Manchester-born Smiths, guitarist Johnny Marr and bassist Andy Rourke will reunite on stage for the first time since the band broke up in 1987. It seems that Marr and Rourke have settled their various differences to help fight cancer at the Manchester v. Cancer benefit, which is slated for Jan. 28 and also includes performances by the Doves, New Order, and Badly Drawn Boy. “It’s a privilege to do [this performance],” Rourke said in an audio interview on the Manchester v. Cancer official website, “It’s not the easiest thing in the world to get something like this together, because it has to be on a fairly big scale for it to be significant.”

Rourke and drummer Mike Joyce sued Marr and Smiths’ dandyish frontman, Morrissey, in the early ’90s, claiming that Marr and Moz hogged the band’s royalties. No word yet on whether Morrissey will join his former bandmates on stage in January.

Manchester v. Cancer official site
Smiths fan site
Doves official site
New Order official site
Badly Drawn Boy official site

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