Johnny Marr is one of the most influential guitarists of his generation. As a founding member of The Smiths, his distinctive playing helped create some of the most enduring songs in British music.
He joins Krishnan Guru-Murthy, surrounded by the guitars that have soundtracked more than four decades of his life, including the legendary Gibson ES 355 1960, the Gibson Les Paul Standard 1984, and the Martin D28 1971, as he prepares to let much of his collection go.
They talk about the magic of writing with Morrissey, how The Smiths found their sound, why a new generation is discovering their music, and the strange relationship between musicians and their instruments.
Marr also discusses his new album The Age of Everything, politics, inequality and why he believes so many of the world’s problems come back to “unregulated greed and unfairness”.
The auction "Marr’s Guitars: The Johnny Marr Collection" is taking place at Christie’s in London on 17th September 2026.
0:00 Introduction and highlights
0:45 Johnny Marr on selling his guitar collection
3:32 Why Marr wants his guitars to be played, not collected
4:45 1960 Gibson ES-355 and “Heaven Knows I’m Miserable Now”
9:17 Gibson Les Paul: Marr’s most-used Smiths guitar
13:46 The Rickenbacker and escaping the blues-rock sound
15:54 Rejecting 1970s rock and finding a new guitar sound
20:43 How Marr built The Smiths as a guitar band
23:20 Writing songs with Morrissey: “It was magic”
26:21 Why a new generation is discovering The Smiths
29:11 Andy Burnham, Manchester and “Rusholme Ruffians”
31:38 The Age of Everything and Marr’s new worldview
36:40 Politics, defiance and “reclaiming the world”
38:08 Martin D-28: “There Is a Light That Never Goes Out” and The Queen Is Dead
40:34 The guitars Marr is keeping and his signature Jaguar
42:42 The nine-pickup guitar, Noel Gallagher and Kraftwerk
44:42 How Johnny Marr would change the world
48:06 Gretsch Super Axe and the earliest Smiths songs
49:49 The guitars with the most personal history
50:51 “How Soon Is Now?”, “The Headmaster Ritual” and the final guitars
——-
Get more news at our site – https://www.channel4.com/news/
Subscribe to our Substack newsletter: https://channel4news.substack.com/subscribe
Follow us:
TikTok – https://www.tiktok.com/@c4news
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/channel4news/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/Channel4News
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/Channel4News/
