Ways to Change the World with Krishnan Guru-Murthy

Johnny Marr on the ‘MAGIC’ behind The Smiths

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Sep 16, 2026

Johnny Marr, influential guitarist and co-founder of The Smiths, explores the magic of writing with Morrissey and how the band forged its signature sound. He discusses why younger listeners keep discovering their music, the stories behind iconic guitars, his new album The Age of Everything, and his views on politics, inequality and unregulated greed.

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INSIGHT

Marr’s Jangly Sound Came From A Les Paul

Marr’s 1980s Les Paul became his most-recorded Smiths guitar despite not matching the expected jangly image.
Modified pickups, a Bigsby, and its feel helped produce clean, ringing parts rather than conventional blues-rock.

INSIGHT

Why Marr Used A Rickenbacker To Escape Blues

Marr chose a Rickenbacker partly to escape blues-rock habits and encourage chord-based writing.
Its narrow neck felt cramped for bending, steering him toward denser chords and a more distinctive Smiths sound.

INSIGHT

Marr Built A New Guitar Language

Marr defined his generation against the theatrical, old-fashioned guitar culture surrounding 1970s hard rock.
Post-punk players, affordable pedals, disco, pop, and harmonic songwriting opened alternatives to blues-based riffs and solos.

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Johnny Marr is one of the most influential guitarists of his generation. As a founding member of The Smiths, his distinctive playing helped create some of the most enduring songs in British music.

He joins Krishnan Guru-Murthy, surrounded by the guitars that have soundtracked more than four decades of his life, including the legendary Gibson ES 355 1960, the Gibson Les Paul Standard 1984, and the Martin D28 1971, as he prepares to let much of his collection go.

They talk about the magic of writing with Morrissey, how The Smiths found their sound, why a new generation is discovering their music, and the strange relationship between musicians and their instruments.

Marr also discusses his new album The Age of Everything, politics, inequality and why he believes so many of the world’s problems come back to “unregulated greed and unfairness”.

The auction "Marr's Guitars: The Johnny Marr Collection" is taking place at Christie's in London on 17th September 2026. 0:00 Introduction and highlights0:45 Johnny Marr on selling his guitar collection3:32 Why Marr wants his guitars to be played, not collected4:45 1960 Gibson ES-355 and “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now”9:17 Gibson Les Paul: Marr’s most-used Smiths guitar13:46 The Rickenbacker and escaping the blues-rock sound15:54 Rejecting 1970s rock and finding a new guitar sound20:43 How Marr built The Smiths as a guitar band23:20 Writing songs with Morrissey: “It was magic”26:21 Why a new generation is discovering The Smiths29:11 Andy Burnham, Manchester and “Rusholme Ruffians”31:38 The Age of Everything and Marr’s new worldview36:40 Politics, defiance and “reclaiming the world”38:08 Martin D-28: “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out” and The Queen Is Dead40:34 The guitars Marr is keeping and his signature Jaguar42:42 The nine-pickup guitar, Noel Gallagher and Kraftwerk44:42 How Johnny Marr would change the world48:06 Gretsch Super Axe and the earliest Smiths songs49:49 The guitars with the most personal history50:51 “How Soon Is Now?”, “The Headmaster Ritual” and the final guitars