Andy Rourke | |
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.jpg) Rourke in 2005 | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Andrew Michael Rourke |
| Born | (1964-01-17)17 January 1964 Manchester, England |
| Died | 19 May 2023(2023-05-19) (aged 59) New York City, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instruments |
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| Labels | |
| Formerly of | |
| Spouse | [1] |
| Website | Official website |
Andrew Michael Rourke (17 January 1964 – 19 May 2023) was an English musician best known as thebassist of the 1980s indie rock bandthe Smiths. Regarded as one of the greatest bassists of his generation, he was known for his melodic andfunk-inspired approach to bass playing.[2][3]
Rourke joined the Smiths after their first gig, having known guitaristJohnny Marr sincesecondary school, and played on their entire discography. After the group broke up in 1987, he performed on some of lead vocalistMorrissey's early solo releases. Rourke recorded withSinéad O'Connor andthe Pretenders in the early 1990s, and was a member of thesupergroupFreebass and the bandD.A.R.K., and laterBlitz Vega withKav Sandhu. He organised theVersus Cancer concerts from 2006 to 2009.
Rourke was born inManchester,Lancashire, in 1964,[1][4] and grew up on the Racecourse Estate inAshton upon Mersey. His Irish father, Michael, worked as an architect;[5] his mother, Mary (née Stone),[5] was English.[6] He was raised by his father in Ashton-upon-Mersey, and laterSharston, after his mother separated from him and left the family home.[7][8]
He received anacoustic guitar from his parents when he was seven years old. At the age of 11, he befriended a young John Maher (soon to beJohnny Marr) with whom he shared an interest in music: both attendedSt Augustine's Grammar School inSharston. The pair spent lunch breaks in schooljamming and playing on their guitars. When Marr and Rourke formed a band, Rourke switched tobass, which he fell in love with and continued to play for the rest of his career.[9]
Rourke left school when he was 15[10] and passed through a series of menial jobs, playing guitar and bass in various rock bands, as well as in the short-livedfunk bandFreak Party, with Marr.[11]
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Marr later teamed up withMorrissey to form the Smiths. Rourke joined the band after its first gig in 1982, when Marr fired original bass player Dale Hibbert, and remained through the rest of its existence.[12] The band's second studio album,Meat Is Murder, featured the track "Barbarism Begins at Home", a seven-minute funk-inspired track regarded by several critics as one of Rourke's greatest contributions.[13][12][14] He was also praised forrockabilly-inspired basslines on the tracks "Rusholme Ruffians" and "Nowhere Fast".[12][15] Some of Rourke's other noted performances include "This Charming Man" and "How Soon Is Now?".[14][16]
Suffering from heroin addiction,[17] Rourke was arrested for drug possession and sacked from the band in early 1986, via a handwritten note left on his car windscreen by Morrissey.[18] Experiencedsession musicianGuy Pratt was brought in as a replacement and found Rourke's compositions difficult to learn; he was relieved when Rourke was restored two weeks later, having been cleared to tour the United States.[12] Just after Rourke's reinstatement, the Smiths released their third studio album,The Queen Is Dead. In his absence, second guitaristCraig Gannon joined the band.[19] Marr described Rourke's contribution to that album as "something no other bass player could match", and the heavy bassline on thetitle track as one of the best he had heard.[20] Rourke playedcello on several Smiths tracks, including "Shakespeare's Sister",[21] "Rubber Ring",[15] "Oscillate Wildly"[22] and theTroy Tate version of "Pretty Girls Make Graves".[23] The Smiths released their fourth and final studio albumStrangeways, Here We Come, in 1987 to critical acclaim, and broke up soon after.[24]
Rourke and drummerMike Joyce started legal proceedings against Morrissey and Marr overroyalties. Short on money due to his heroin addiction, Rourke settled out of court for £83,000 and 10% of future royalties while relinquishing all further claims; Joyce pursued the claim until 1996 and was awarded substantially more in court.[25] Having spent the settlement, Rourke later found himself being declaredbankrupt following a petition of theInland Revenue in 1999.[26]
Soon after the break-up of the Smiths, Rourke and Joyce played withSinéad O'Connor. Rourke appears on her second studio albumI Do Not Want What I Haven't Got (1990).[27][28] With Craig Gannon, he provided the rhythm section for two singles by Smiths vocalist Morrissey – "Interesting Drug" and "The Last of the Famous International Playboys" (both 1989). Rourke also played bass guitar on Morrissey's "November Spawned a Monster" and "Piccadilly Palare" (both 1990)[15] and composed the music for Morrissey's songs "Yes, I Am Blind" (the B-side of "Ouija Board, Ouija Board", 1989); "Girl Least Likely To" (a B-side on the 12-inch single of "November Spawned a Monster"; also released as a bonus track on the 1997 reissue ofViva Hate); and "Get Off the Stage" (the B-side of "Piccadilly Palare").[18][29][24]
In 1994, he worked as a session bassist withthe Pretenders, appearing on six tracks onLast of the Independents,[12] as well as working withKilling Joke,[12]Badly Drawn Boy (with whom Rourke toured for two years),[30]Aziz Ibrahim (formerly ofthe Stone Roses)[31] and ex-Oasis guitaristPaul "Bonehead" Arthurs as Moondog One, which also included former Smiths members Joyce and Gannon.[24] Rourke also played bass guitar forIan Brown, both on tour and on Brown's fifth solo studio album,The World Is Yours (2007).[32]
Rourke formedFreebass with bassistsMani (ex-Stone Roses) andPeter Hook (ex-New Order) in 2007 and remained active in the group until August 2010. Early in 2009, he moved to New York City, where he had a programme onEast Village Radio[10] and worked as a club DJ with Olé Koretsky under the name Jetlag. This led to Rourke and Koretsky forming the alternative rock bandD.A.R.K. withDolores O'Riordan, lead vocalist withthe Cranberries.[33] The trio released their debut studio album,Science Agrees, in 2016,[34] through the independent labelCooking Vinyl.[35]
In 2016, Rourke appeared on the cover ofBass Guitar.[36]
In January 2018, it was announced that Rourke, Joyce and Gannon would take part in Classically Smiths, a series of classical music concerts based on the Smiths' discography, with theManchester Camerata.[37] Rourke released a statement, saying that he had never agreed to take part in the event; Joyce and Gannon subsequently withdrew and the events were cancelled.[38]
After the death of O'Riordan, Rourke formedBlitz Vega[39] with guitarist and vocalistKav Sandhu, formerly ofHappy Mondays. Their first single, "Hey Christo", was released in 2019.
Also in 2019, Blitz Vega recorded a live EP atAbbey Road Studios[40] and featured onRed Stripe Presents: This Feeling TV presented byLaura Whitmore andGordon Smart.[41] In 2022, Blitz Vega released the single "Strong Forever", featuring Johnny Marr as their guest guitarist.[42]
Rourke moved to New York City in early 2009, where he remained until his death. In 2012, he married Francesca Mor.[1]
Rourke, his then-manager Nova Rehman, his production company, Great Northern Productions, and others organisedManchester v Cancer, a series of concerts to benefit cancer research, later known simply asVersus Cancer. The initiative was prompted when Rehman's father and sister were diagnosed with the disease. The first Manchester v Cancer concert took place in January 2006. It featured a reunion between Rourke and his former Smiths bandmateJohnny Marr, who performed one song together.[43] He organised further concerts in the three following years.[44][45][46]
On the morning of 19 May 2023, Rourke died from a "lengthy" battle withpancreatic cancer atMemorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center inNew York City. He was 59.[1][4][47][48]
All three of Rourke's former Smiths bandmates paid tribute to him, with Morrissey writing: "He didn't ever know his own power, and nothing that he played had been played by someone else. His distinction was so terrific and unconventional and he proved it could be done...I suppose, at the end of it all, we hope to feel that we were valued. Andy need not worry about that."[49] Johnny Marr describing Rourke as a "beautiful soul by those who knew him and as a supremely gifted musician by music fans",[5] as well as speaking about the early days of their friendship: "We were best friends, going everywhere together [...] When we were fifteen I moved into his house with him and his three brothers and I soon came to realise that my mate was one of those rare people that absolutely no one doesn't like."[50]
On 21 November 2024, a mural depicting Rourke was unveiled at The Wheatsheaf pub in Manchester's Northern Quarter.[51] The mural was painted by Akse P19, a Manchester-based street artist.[52] In attendance at the event wasMike Joyce, Nalinee Darmrong (the photographer whose image the work was based on) and Joe Kirwin from Pancreatic Cancer Action.[53]
Throughout his career, Rourke used aFender Precision Bass,[54] aFender Jazz Bass, a Yamaha BB3000 bass and others.[55]
Singles
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EPs
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Singles
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Singles
[…] on Barbarism Begins at Home, regularly held up as the greatest example of Rourke's playing in the Smiths' oeuvre, he plays writhingly funky slap bass […]
It's the shining moment of bassist Andy Rourke who delivers his best work on this almost seven-minute long monster.
The song's thick slaps and rapid fingerwork showcased Rourke's unique talents expertly.
Joyce explained that the band formed when Andy Rourke started working with Ibrahim.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)That would be my 1964P Bass I bought it in New York in 1982, it's been with me ever since.
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