MORRISSEY
Steven Patrick Morrissey was born in Manchester on May 22nd 1959. Singer-songwriter and co-founder of the Smiths (1982-1987), Morrissey has been a solo artist for twenty-six years, during which time he has had three number 1 albums in England in three different decades. Achieving eleven Top 10 albums (plus nine with the Smiths), his songs have been recorded by David Bowie, Nancy Sinatra, Marianne Faithfull, Chrissie Hynde, Thelma Houston, My Chemical Romance and Christy Moore, amongst others. An animal protectionist, in 2006 Morrissey was voted the second greatest living British icon by viewers of the BBC, losing out to Sir David Attenborough. In 2007 Morrissey was voted the greatest northern male, past or present, in a nationwide newspaper poll. In 2012, Morrissey was awarded the Keys to the City of Tel-Aviv. It has been said 'Most pop stars have to be dead before they reach the iconic status that Morrissey has reached in his lifetime.' 'Brilliant, breathtaking, vital, lyrical and poetic.' u003cbu003eu003ciu003eObserveru003c/iu003eu003c/bu003e'He is so devastatingly articulate he could win the Booker . . . the kind of burnished prose no other singer on the planet could aspire to.' u003cbu003eu003ciu003eGuardianu003c/iu003eu003c/bu003e'A book to be thankful for . . . a work of genuine literary class.' u003cbu003eu003ciu003eIndependentu003c/iu003eu003c/bu003e'A rich and substantial work, the figure emerging at its centre both compelling and complex.' The u003cbu003eu003ciu003eTimes Literary Supplementu003c/iu003eu003c/bu003e'Anyone who feels the poetry of Morrissey's lyrics should welter in his astonishingly well-written prose. His evocation of post-war Manchester - a chilling blend of social realism and the Gothic - is a triumph.' u003cbu003eu003ciu003eTimes Higher Educationu003c/iu003eu003c/bu003e
