Morrissey and Marr – the band’s singer and guitar player respectively – have been on different trajectories since the band split. Morrissey is the cantankerous solo artist who has been prone, particularly in recent years, to make controversial comments about immigration, race, meat-eaters and politics.

Marr, meanwhile, is the serial collaborator (The Pretenders, The The, Billy Bragg, Electronic, Modest Mouse, The Cribs, and Hans Zimmer and Billie Eilish on the latest Bond score) who went on to become a solo artist and has an almost Dave Grohl-like reputation for being a nice guy. But this very public argument blasts any differences wide open. As one Twitter user put it, “this disagreement is a true nail in the heart for us fans”. So what’s behind the animosity?

Morrissey’s letter appears to have been sparked by a recent interview that Marr gave to Uncut magazine to promote his new solo album, Fever Dreams Pts 1-4. In the interview, Marr talks about his collaborators. “It won’t come as any surprise when I say that I’m really close with everyone I’ve worked with – except for the obvious one. And that isn’t that much of a surprise because we’re so different, me and Morrissey,” Marr said.

In his letter, Morrissey called Marr a “rent-a-quote” when the press required an “ugly slant” on him. “It’s as if you can’t uncross your legs without mentioning me,” the singer wrote.

On a purely empirical basis, Morrissey has a point. I randomly picked out 10 print interviews that Marr has given over the last decade: he mentions Morrissey by name in around half, references him without naming him in others, and in one interview “does everything in his power to avoid the word ‘Morrissey’,” according to the writer. This latter quote almost proves the point. 

But this is hardly Marr’s fault – he’s simply answering journalists’ questions because he’s a professional. And the journalists are asking these questions because The Smiths and Morrissey (and, by extension, the things he does) are woven into Britain’s cultural fabric. It’s daft of Morrissey to blame Marr for other people’s perfectly valid interest in their lives. They built the temple. They can’t expect pilgrims not to visit.