Young Morrissey slammed Ringo Starr and Sex Pistols in unearthed 1970s letters
Young Morrissey slammed Ringo Starr and Sex Pistols in unearthed 1970s letters
Jerry Lawton & Hollie BealeSat, August 1, 2026 at 9:00 AM UTC
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Morrissey was very opinionated in his younger years -Credit:Getty Images
Morrissey was tearing into fellow musicians as a pre-Smiths teenager - complaining Ringo Starr was 'very overrated' and he did not 'like his beard'.
Correspondence written by the This Charming Man singer as a youth has surfaced five decades later - and shows the divisive star has always criticized other performers.
Beyond the Beatles' drummer Ringo, he takes aim at punk icons The Sex Pistols, soul artist Barry White, and Because the Night singer Patti Smith.
Morrissey wrote in April 1975, when he was 15: "Ringo Starr is very overrated and I don't like his beard. A Barry White gig would be murder. "Patti Smith is disgracefully looking."
He expressed his disappointment after witnessing the 'pathetic' Sex Pistols perform live twice at Manchester's Lesser Free Trade Hall in 1976. This comes as Morrissey abruptly stopped a show earlier this year.
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"As for the Pistols...they were pathetic," he wrote.
"I take back all that I've said about the Pistols. They are just plain bad. Period."
One individual he did hold in high regard was himself. He declared he was 'all set for superstardom' after joining his first band The Nosebleeds in 1976.
"I'm in show business," he wrote.
"I'll spring on this unsuspecting world yet! But then, I've always been a star, haven't I?".
In another letter, he wrote: "'I always said I was a genius, but nobody listened."
Ringo Starr was a target -Credit:Getty
Weeks later, he wrote: "One thing I won't do is record for the sake of it. I'm all set for superstardom. But then, I've always been a star, haven't I?" The reflections are found in a series of letters that a young Steven Morrissey sent to his Birmingham poet pen pal, Simon Pitt, between 1974 and 1979.
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A collection of 66 letters Morrissey wrote to Pitt, who passed away last year, is being auctioned by his family through Dawsons Auctioneers in Maidenhead, Berks, and is expected to sell for more than £22,000 when they go under the hammer in August.
In the correspondence, Morrissey offered a glimpse into working-class life in Manchester and expressed his ambition to relocate permanently to America. In his initial letter, penned at age 14 in 1974, Morrissey revealed he was already harboring dreams of fame.
"My ambition is to be a rock 'n' roll star or an actor or a writer," he said.
Don Mclean performing his 8-and-a-half-minute hit American Pie from 1971 -Credit:Toronto Star via Getty Images
Morrissey included a passport photograph of himself with a 1977 letter and wrote: "Poseurs of the world unite!".
He lamented Margaret Thatcher's 1979 General Election victory, writing: "Did you vote? Labor, I hope? God knows what tortures that miserable Thatcher has prepared for us working-class folk."
Several of the letters disclose a handful of performers he genuinely respected - including American Pie star Don McLean and All The Young Dudes' singer Ian Hunter of Brit rock band Mott The Hoople.
"Wouldn't mind going to see Don McLean," he said.
"Ian Hunter has a hit on his hands."
After establishing The Smiths with guitarist Johnny Marr in 1982, the band produced a series of critically acclaimed albums before disbanding in 1987, after which Morrissey embarked on a solo career. The 67-year-old has courted controversy throughout his career, frequently making headlines for his candid views on national identity and the British monarchy.
The Sex Pistols were also slammed -Credit:Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
Peter Mason, auctioneer and senior valuer at Dawsons, said: "It is exceptionally rare for an archive of this depth and intimacy to emerge.
"These letters offer a previously unseen insight into the formative years of one of Britain's most distinctive and influential lead singers, years before he found international fame as the frontman of The Smiths, one of the defining and most influential bands of the 1980s.
"What struck me most was just how funny Morrissey is.
"Running through almost every letter is a wonderful sense of humor and genuine warmth that makes him an incredibly endearing character.
"Alongside the wit and unmistakable literary voice that would later become synonymous with Morrissey, the correspondence also captures Britain at a fascinating moment in its cultural history.
"Through his observations on punk, music, politics, and everyday life, the letters offer a vivid snapshot of the changing British music scene and political landscape during the 1970s while documenting the emergence of a remarkable young talent long before the rest of the world knew his name."
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
