The Smiths bassist Andy Rourke dies aged 59

The Smiths bassist Andy Rourke has died aged 59 after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

His former bandmate Johnny Marr announced the tragic news on Twitter this morning, describing Rourke as a ‘supremely gifted musician’.

He continued: ‘It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Andy Rourke after a lengthy illness with pancreatic cancer.

‘Andy will be remembered as a kind and beautiful soul by those who knew him and as a supremely gifted musician by music fans.

‘We request privacy at this sad time.’

Smiths guitarist Andy Rourke has died at the age of 59, it was announced this morning 

His former bandmate Johnny Marr announced the tragic news on Twitter, describing Rourke as a ‘supremely gifted musician’

From left to right: Marr, Morrissey, Mike Joyce and Rourke before their first show in Detroit during the 1985 Meat Is Murder Tour

Suede guitarist Mat Osman, brother of Pointless presenter Richard, today paid tribute to a ‘total one off’.

He tweeted: ‘Aw man. RIP Andy Rourke. A total one-off – a rare bassist whose sound you could recognise straight away.

‘I remember so clearly playing that Barbarism break over and over, trying to learn the riff, and marvelling at this steely funk driving the track along.’

Born on January 17, 1964, to an English mother and an Irish father, Rourke showed a passion for music from an early age.

He learned the guitar aged seven and at 11 met Marr, with the pair striking up a bond and jamming together on their guitars in the music room at their school.

After leaving school at 15, Rourke formed The Smiths in Manchester with Marr, Morrissey and drummer Mike Joyce in 1982. 

The group became the seminal Manchester act of the 1980s and an icon of British alternative rock. 

Rourke was briefly sacked for two weeks in 1986 for taking heroin addiction but returned to record The Queen Is Dead album the same year. 

The band went on to release four albums between 1982-1987 before a dispute over royalties from their now cavernous repertoire spelled the end of the quartet.

Rourke later went on to perform with the likes of Sinead O’Connor and Ian Brown from The Stone Roses. 

Morrisey broke his silence on the feud last year with an open letter attacking Marr on his Morrissey Central. 

‘This is not a rant or an hysterical bombast. It is a polite and calmly measured request: Would you please stop mentioning my name in your interviews?’ he said. 

‘Would you please, instead, discuss your own career, your own unstoppable solo achievements and your own music? If you can, would you please just leave me out of it?

‘The fact is: you don’t know me. You know nothing of my life, my intentions, my thoughts, my feelings. Yet you talk as if you were my personal psychiatrist with consistent and uninterrupted access to my instincts.’

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