There is an ongoing saga with Morrissey’s upcoming album, Bonfire of Teenagers. In a pair of messages posted on his official website the past two days, the former Smith singer revealed that he’s cut ties with his latest record label, management company, and, apparently, Miley Cyrus too.
Morrissey part ways with Capitol records
A Dec. 23 post entitled “Roll on 2023” stated that “Morrissey has voluntarily parted company with Maverick/Quest management. Morrissey has also voluntarily withdrawn from any association with Capitol Records (Los Angeles).”
A new post entitled “Miley Is A Punk Rocker” said “Miley Cyrus now wants to be taken off the song ‘I Am Veronica’ for which she volunteered backing vocals almost two years ago. This comes at a time when Morrissey has disassociated himself with Capitol Records (Los Angeles), who control the hidden album Bonfire of Teenagers.” The post also includes a photo of Morrissey and Cyrus during the original recording session for the song.
The latest news is another hurdle in the release of the album, which was intended to be Morrissey’s follow-up to 2020’s I Am Not A Dog on A Chain. An update from the singer in November hinted at some discord with Capitol, when he shared that there was no longer a planned February release date for the new album and added that “its fate is exclusively in the hands of Capitol Records.”
It has been noted that Capitol still released one of the Bonfire songs, the heavily Smiths-indebted “Rebels Without Applause,” as a single.
Quest’s Scott Rodger, who also manages Paul McCartney and Arcade Fire, added context about Cyrus’ inclusion when replying to an angry Morrissey fan yesterday on Twitter. “Morrissey’s album was due for release [o]n Feb. 23,” he said. “It will come out, but Morrissey himself put out a statement in his blog that the album ‘featured’ another artist who didn’t want to be credited and thus the artist’s label blocked the release. Nothing to do with Capitol.”
When the fan pushed back and asked why management wouldn’t “fight” on Morrissey’s behalf, Rodger replied, “The artist who did backing vocals will be taken off and replaced. That takes time, especially as you hit Christmas. When you say fight, sadly it doesn’t work that way. The other label, Columbia, legally blocked it. They’re within their rights to do so.”
Capitol has repeatedly declined comment about the situation from SPIN, and Morrissey is not currently listed on the label’s artist roster page. This is not the first time the two parties have had an acrimonious relationship, as Capitol imprint Harvest previously dropped Morrissey in 2014.
