Albums: You Are the Quarry, Viva Hate, Ringleader Of The Tormentors

Steven Patrick Morrissey, better known as Morrissey, is a british singer and lyricist born in Davyhulme, Greater Manchester on May 22, 1959. He was the lead singer of The Smiths, one of the most influential alternative bands in the 1980s. The group split up in 1987 and Morrissey started a successful solo career.

Morrissey is often noted as one of the key pop lyricists of his generation, with many subsequent artists hailing his influence. Themes on which he has touched include child murder, gang violence, domestic violence, prostitution, racism, drug use, homosexuality, disability, assassination, and terrorism. Unrequited love and a celebration of the outsider are a constant theme throughout his work.

His first solo album was released in 1988 and was entitled Viva hate. It was followed by Bona Drag (1990), Kill Uncle (1991), the Mick Ronson-produced Your Arsenal (1992), a live album Beethoven Was Deaf (1993), Vauxhall and I (1994), Southpaw Grammar (1995) and Maladjusted (1997). Morrissey also recorded a one-off single with the singer Siouxsie : they both sang in duet on Interlude.

A period of musical inactivity followed in the late 90s and early 2000s, which was due to failure in finding a suitable label, according to a 2004 interview with Jools Holland. After seven years without a new album release, You Are the Quarry was released on May 17, 2004 (but one day later in the USA). The first single, Irish Blood, English Heart, was released internationally on May 10, 2004.

The single reached number three in its first week of sales in the UK singles chart. To date, this is the highest placing chart position for Morrissey in his entire career as both a solo artist and the lead singer of The Smiths (the 2006 release You Have Killed Me also debuted at number three in its first week in the charts). Also, it has sold over a million copies, making the album his most successful one, solo or with The Smiths.

Ringleader Of The Tormentors, produced by former David Bowie producer Tony Visconti, was released in April 2006. The album went straight to the top of the UK Album charts. In a BBC Radio 5 interview with Visconti, the producer stated that his new project would be "the next Morrissey album", though that this would not be forthcoming for at least a year.

However, an interview with the BBC News in October 2007 website stated that the album is already written, ready for a possible September 2008 release and that his deal with Sanctuary Records had come to an end. Morrissey released a new Greatest Hits (which were re-recorded and not the original releases) collection in February 2008, including two new songs: All You Need Is Me and That’s How People Grow Up, both released as singles. Morrissey is now signed to Decca Records.

In 2009, Morrissey released his latest album, 'Years of Refusal'. This album contains the two singles released in 2008.

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