Morrissey Calls Sparks “Headless Palisades Savages”

Morrissey has once again said something asshole-ish and, in other news, forks were found in the kitchen. This time, Moz has called Sparks “headless palisades savages who threw their old friends into hot molten lava for sexy kicks.” Points for creativity, at least.

The quote comes from a new Instagram post from Morrissey, in which he shared a slew of archival photos from the early ’90s. The final image is of a note written to Morrissey from Ron and Russell Mael, the brothers behind Sparks. In the caption, the former Smiths frontman comments on how “nice” the note was, before launching into the mudslinging.

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As hinted at in his insult, Morrissey and Sparks have a history of friendship. Even when Sparks released the 2009 single “Lighten up Morrissey,” all seemed well. Russel told The Guardian that Moz “really loved” the song. It all came crashing down, however, when Russel openly criticized Morrissey’s political views — particularly those regarding race — in a 2018 interview.

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“I’m totally in agreement with anybody being disillusioned [with Morrissey] because I am as well,” he told Press Association. “It seemed so inconsistent, all these perspectives that he has on those various issues, just stupid, dumb kind of things. I obviously don’t agree with any of these things. They’re just so ill-conceived and wrong.”

Morrissey addressed the comments in a 2021 interview, saying, “I stood by Sparks for many years and I promoted them in my own humble way whenever I could, and they were famously people without opinions so I was surprised that they kicked me in the teeth. It came across as an almost fiendish ingratitude.” I guess he’s still thinking about it.

Sparks are currently gearing up for the release of their new album MAD!, which arrives on May 23rd. To celebrate the record’s release, they’ll embark on a European tour (get tickets here).

For his part, Morrissey has a 2025 tour across the United States set for April and May. See the list of Morrissey’s upcoming concerts here, and get tickets here.