This week, British singer Morrissey was dropped by his label BMG Records, with the company’s new Executive not wanting another Morrissey album. Alistair Norbury, president of BMG UK, was quoted as saying “there are too many cases of successful artists languishing at labels who are no longer interested in them”.
BMG, who is partly owned by Sony, released a statement on the closure:
“BMG has released three exceptional Top 10 albums from Morrissey over the last three years. This includes some of the best works of his career. The deal for the three albums is now over.”
The news did not seem to go down well with the singer, who released a statement on his own website revealing that all “projected BMG Morrissey releases/reissues have been scrapped.”
“BMG Records have dropped Morrissey,” read the post. “Following the March 2020 release of I AM NOT A DOG ON A CHAIN (#1 Scotland, #1 Poland, #3 Britain, #3 France, #10 Spain, #13 Germany, #2, #9, #17, #18 U.S.A. – depending on which official chart you follow), BMG have appointed a new Executive who does not want another Morrissey album. Instead, the new BMG Executive has announced new plans for ‘diversity’ within BMG’s artist roster, and all projected BMG Morrissey releases/reissues have been scrapped.”
The singer also noted the announcement was "perfectly in keeping with the relentless galvanic horror of 2020,” before adding: “We would be critically insane to expect anything positive.
"My three albums with BMG have been the best of my career, and I stand by them till death,” Morrissey added.
“Recording them has been a pivotal period in my life, and I thank the previous BMG team and everyone involved for that. It’s still important to me to do music my own way, and I wouldn’t want to be on a label that dictates so specifically how their artists should behave – especially when the word ‘talent’ is notably never mentioned.”
Morrissey was once known for his moody existential angst, but he has become somewhat of a loose cannon over the years, resulting in a damaged image. His public outbursts have long disappointed many of his fans, from his dismissive reaction to the #MeeToo scandal to his promotion of the far-right party For Britain.
In other news, Morrisey and David Bowie’s live cover of T-Rex’s ‘Cosmic Dancer’ has been officially released. The pair got together for the cover during a show at The Forum in Los Angeles in 1991.
