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A collection of letters penned by a young Morrissey, prior to the formation of The Smiths, is set to be auctioned with an estimated value of £22,000. These handwritten notes, exchanged between Morrissey and his Birmingham pen pal Simon Pitt—who later became the city’s poet laureate—date from when the singer was between 14 and 20 years old. Among the letters, Morrissey expressed his early aspirations, stating, “my ambition is to be a rock ‘n’ roll star or an actor, or a writer.” In another letter dated a few weeks later, he boldly claimed, “I always said I was a genius, but nobody listened.”
The correspondence, created between 1974 and 1979, will be sold individually during the auction event named Before The Smiths: The Morrissey Letters, scheduled to take place at Dawsons Auctioneers on August 26. This era of Morrissey’s early life was also the focus of the 2017 biopic England Is Mine, which chronicles his struggles before forming The Smiths with guitarist Johnny Marr in 1982. The letters reveal insights into Morrissey’s changing perspectives on the punk scene, including his impressions of The Sex Pistols after attending their performance at Manchester’s Lesser Free Trade Hall in June 1976. In one letter, he candidly remarks, “As for the Pistols… they were pathetic. I take back all that I’ve said about the Pistols… They are just plain bad. Period.”
In addition to his views on punk rock, Morrissey discusses encounters with influential musicians such as Patti Smith, Johnny Thunders, and Jerry Nolan of the New York Dolls—the band whose UK fan club he once presided over. The letters also document his experiences visiting the famed New York punk club CBGB’s, attempting to join The Clash, and serving as the lead singer of the Manchester punk band The Nosebleeds, marking his first time fronting a band. Reflecting on his early music career, Morrissey wrote, “I’m in showbusiness… I’ll spring on this unsuspecting world yet… One thing I won’t do is record for the sake of it… I’m all set for superstardom. But then, I’ve always been a star, haven’t I?”
Political sentiments are also present in the letters, including Morrissey’s reaction to Margaret Thatcher’s election as prime minister in 1979. One letter reads, “Did you vote? Labour, I hope? God knows what tortures that miserable Thatcher has prepared for us woikin’ class folk. I dread to fink.” The final letter in the collection reveals that Morrissey had joined a London band with a recording contract. Peter Mason, auctioneer and senior valuer at Dawsons, noted the warmth and humor threaded throughout the letters, which provide a vivid and personal glimpse of Britain’s cultural and political atmosphere in the 1970s. He remarked, “Alongside the wit and unmistakable literary voice that would later become synonymous with Morrissey, the correspondence also captures Britain at a fascinating moment in its cultural history.”
As the frontman of The Smiths, a band that included Johnny Marr, bassist Andy Rourke, and drummer Mike Joyce, Morrissey became one of the key figures in British indie rock during the 1980s. The group is remembered for hits such as “This Charming Man,” “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now,” and “How Soon Is Now?” which all reached the UK top 10. The letters offer a unique window into the formative years of a musician who would go on to shape an entire music genre
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