Steven Patrick Morrissey (/ˈmɒrɪsiː/; born 22 May 1959), known mononymously as Morrissey, is an English singer, songwriter, and author. He came to prominence as the frontman of the rock band the Smiths, which was active from 1982 to 1987. Since then, he has pursued a commercially successful solo career. Morrissey's music is characterised by his baritone voice and distinctive lyrical content featuring recurring themes of emotional isolation, sexual longing, self-deprecating and black humour, and anti-establishment stances. Born to working-class Irish immigrants in Davyhulme, Lancashire, Morrissey grew up in nearby Manchester. As a child, he developed a love of literature, kitchen sink realism, and pop music. In the late 1970s, he fronted punk rock band the Nosebleeds with little success before beginning a career in music journalism and authoring several books on music and film in the early 1980s. He formed the Smiths with Johnny Marr in 1982, soon attracting national recognition for their eponymous debut album. As the band's frontman, Morrissey attracted attention for his trademark quiff and witty and sardonic lyrics. Deliberately avoiding rock machismo, he cultivated the image of a sexually ambiguous social outsider who embraced celibacy. The Smiths released three further studio albums—Meat Is Murder, The Queen Is Dead, and Strangeways, Here We Come—and had a string of hit singles. The band were critically acclaimed and attracted a cult following. Personal differences between Morrissey and Marr resulted in the separation of the Smiths in 1987. In 1988 Morrissey launched his solo career with Viva Hate. This album and its follow-ups—Kill Uncle, Your Arsenal, and Vauxhall and I—all did well on the UK Albums Chart and spawned multiple hit singles. Replacing Marr, he took on Alain Whyte and Boz Boorer as his primary co-writers. During this time, his image began to shift into that of a burlier figure who toyed with patriotic imagery and working-class masculinity. In the mid-to-late 1990s, his albums Southpaw Grammar and Maladjusted also charted but were less well received. Relocating to Los Angeles, he took a musical hiatus from 1998 to 2003 before releasing a successful comeback album, You Are the Quarry, in 2004. Ensuing years saw the release of albums Ringleader of the Tormentors, Years of Refusal, World Peace Is None of Your Business, Low in High School, and California Son, as well as his autobiography and his debut novel, List of the Lost. Highly influential, Morrissey has been credited as a seminal figure in the emergence of indie rock and Britpop. Regarded as one of the greatest lyricists in British history, his lyrics have become the subject of academic study. He has been a controversial figure throughout his music career with his forthright opinions and outspoken nature—endorsing vegetarianism and animal rights, criticising royalty and prominent politicians, and defending a particular vision of English national identity while critiquing the impact of immigration on the UK. In a 2006 poll for the BBC's Culture Show, Morrissey was voted the second-greatest living British cultural icon.

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