Morrissey has spoken out after his “very first passport from his early teens” was stolen from the “personal possessions of his late mother”.
The former Smiths frontman made an appeal in a new blog post, shared on his official website Morrissey Central.
He wrote: “The passport is circulating on Facebook/X by a “Steven Pisu” / “Xavier Jones”. If the passport is sold / bought, there will be criminal proceedings against anyone who knowingly buys or sells or withholds the passport.
“In the UK, the action is viewed as robbery, and criminal charges apply. In the U.S., Section 496 can administer four years in prison/jail.”
It comes ahead of his recently announced North American tour, which kicks off on Halloween.
He will kick off the run of shows in Houston and will play across the continent throughout November. He will make further stops in Dallas, Little Rock, Birmingham, Knoxville, Durham, Baltimore, Newark, Atlantic City, Rochester, Niagra Falls, Flint and Indianapolis before wrapping up in Waukegan on November 23. Visit here for remaining tickets.
Elsewhere, Morrissey recently looked back at the legacy of The Smiths, and said that the band’s popularity has not come to an end as it was all about “a refusal to surrender to enemy propaganda”.
He wrote to fans about how the legacy the members forged came as a result of taking “risks”, and through their ability to stand up against “enemy propaganda” – something which he says is just as relevant today as it was 40 years ago.
Previously he also posted a blog entitled ‘CANCEL CULTURE BEGINS AT HOME’, and went on to claim that he was being deleted from being the “central essence” of The Smiths.
In the update, he hit out at former bandmates and associates, quoting their debut single ‘Hand In Glove’, by writing: “I stake my claim! I’ll fight to the last breath!”
His political stance has also had an impact on his career as a solo artist too. Back in October, he accused the CEO of Capitol Records of trying to derail his solo career. He was locked in a battle with Capitol for a number of years, after his album ‘Bonfire Of Teenagers’ went unreleased, despite being completed in 2021.
The album had been slated for a 2023 release on Capitol, but Morrissey later said he had “voluntarily withdrawn from any association with Capitol Records”. He also revealed that Miley Cyrus, who recorded backing vocals for the track ‘I Am Veronica’ in 2020, had asked to have her vocals removed from the song.
‘Bonfire Of Teenagers’, is thought to also feature guest spots from Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Chad Smith and Flea, as well as Iggy Pop. Speaking last year about the album’s turbulent path to being released, he said: “It’s been quite traumatic and quite sad because when you record something, you want it to be available immediately and it was very much of the time. For me, it was a very personal thing and the fact that it hasn’t been released has been torture.”
