Mark E Smith, the irascible frontman of Manchester post-punk band the Fall, has died at the age of 60.
Smith formed the Fall in 1976 in Prestwich and was the only constant member of the band. He was known for his tempestuous relationship with his bandmates, and frequently fired them – there have been 66 different members over the years, with a third of them lasting less than a year. Smith famously once said: “If it’s me and yer granny on bongos, it’s The Fall.”
He was a famously prolific musician. Last year the Fall released their 32nd studio album, New Facts Emerge, and had been fitfully touring in recent months when Smith’s health would allow. The band played London’s 100 Club in July, while Smith performed from a wheelchair in Wakefield in October.
TimelineMark E Smith: his career highlights
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From post-punk beginnings in Manchester to racking up 31 studio albums, Mark E Smith has one of the most impressive careers in British indie
Mark E Smith formed the band in Prestwich with Martin Bramah, Una Baines and Tony Friel. By the time of the band's debut album Live at the Witch Trials, recorded in a single day, only Bramah remained from the initial lineup – Baines and Friel the first to go in the band's enormous number of personnel changes. There have been 66 members in all.
One of the most highly-regarded of the band's albums, Hex Enduction Hour distilled their essence: chaotic sonic mess washing around a driving rhythm section, all of it shot through with Smith's scabrous ranting.
This cover of the Holland-Dozier-Holland Motown track became the Fall's only top 30 hit. Most of their other singles would skulk around the lower reaches of the top 100, though others from this period – like Hit the North, Victoria and Jerusalem – would flirt with success.
Smith didn't only work with the Fall – he collaborated with Michael Clark's contemporary dance company on a work about William of Orange, wrote a play about Pope John Paul I, made a well-regarded album with German electronic duo Mouse on Mars as Von Südenfed, and guested with Damon Albarn's cartoon band Gorillaz.
John Peel said the Fall were his favourite band, and they recorded more sessions for his BBC radio show than any other artist – 24 in all. Martin Bramah remembered: "He wanted to admire Mark from afar, and Mark was smart enough to know that."
Smith's first marriage was to Brix Smith, later Brix Smith Start, in 1983 – she played guitar in the Fall. He later married Saffron Prior, who ran the Fall's fan club, and then Eleni Poulou, who played synths.
The band's final album came out last year, and hit the UK Top 40, bringing their total number of studio albums to 31. It was described in the Observer as "a stop-start marriage of demonic rock and kraut-punk in which Smith cackles and appears to speak in tongues" – business as usual, then.
News of his death was reported on the Fall’s Twitter page and on the website of the band’s record label, Cherry Red Records.
The day I've been dreading.
— Fall news (@fallnews) January 24, 2018
"It is with deep regret that we announce the passing of Mark E. Smith. He passed this morning at home.... 1/2
In August, the band cancelled shows in New York and Louisville, Kentucky, after Smith was hospitalised for issues relating to his throat, mouth and respiratory system. At the time the Fall’s manager, Pamela Vander, issued a statement saying: “Unfortunately, it would be a gamble on his health to fly anywhere over the next couple of months.” It would have been the Fall’s first US dates in a decade. In late December further US dates were cancelled, with Vander citing “a full year of bad health” as the reason.
His former wife Brix Smith Start, who played guitar in the Fall from 1983 to 1989, made a statement on Twitter. “Mark defied convention and definition – he was a true artist. When I arrived in Manchester – a young American – he introduced me to pickled onions, pubs and punk. He was my music mentor, my cultural anchor, and my first love. I feel deeply saddened by his passing, but I feel greater joy for having shared his journey.”
Among the tributes paid to Smith were from writer and Haçienda DJ Dave Haslam, who said: “The death of Mark E Smith is news I’d been dreading. One of my heroes, and a man I was proud to call a friend.”
BBC Radio 6 Music’s Lauren Laverne described him as “one of my biggest heroes”. She added: “Had a nightmare interviewing him (of course) but then he put me in a song. So sharp, clever and untouchably cool.”
Another 6 Music DJ, Marc Riley, joined the band as a teenager and played guitar with them from 1979 to 1983. Hearing the news while on air, he told listeners that Smith “taught me a lot about life and he taught me a lot about music... The Fall were my favourite band when I joined and they were still my favourite band when I got kicked out.”
Tim Burgess, of fellow Manchester band the Charlatans, said Smith was “a true uncompromising musical maverick. A genius, a curmudgeon and someone whose company it was an honour to share.” Mancunian presenter Terry Christian called him “a colossus - the rest just chancers and careerists in comparison.”
Comedian Vic Reeves wrote on Twitter: “My good friend and my hero. You’ll be so terribly missed by me and millions [of] others. Your words meant more to me than anyone.”
Film director Edgar Wright also paid his respects on Twitter, saying Smith was a “gateway” into indie music, while the actor Paddy Considine said Smith was “an artist that knew no compromise. A total one off and original. What a legend.”
Cedric Bixler Zavala of US punk band At the Drive In said he was “one of the pillars of influence for me as lyricist and trouble maker. I’ve built trust in people based on whether they owned and actually loved Fall records. Thanks 4 making rock literary, and mischievous.” Another US rock band, Garbage, remembered Smith’s famously acerbic humour: “We will never forget you coming to see us play. Especially when you said watching us play was like watching paint dry.”
In 2007, Smith released one of his most highly-regarded late period records, Traumatic Reflexxions, under the name Von Südenfed – a collaboration with German electronic duo Mouse on Mars. The pair wrote on Twitter: “Good-bye dear friend and collaborator.”
The poet Ian McMillan said Smith was the “spiky poet of every awkward moment any of us ever lived through, lit by the metallic glow of the ship canal.”
Smith was born in Salford in 1957, and formed the Fall with friends Martin Bramah and Tony Friel as a teenager. The band’s output included 11 top 40 albums, including 1993’s The Infotainment Scan, which reached No 9. Smith has also collaborated with artists including Gorillaz, Inspiral Carpets and Elastica. His autobiography, Renegade: The Lives and Tales of Mark E Smith, was published in 2008.
In 1983, Smith married Fall member Brix Smith Start; they divorced in 1989. He subsequently married Saffron Prior, who ran the Fall’s fan club. He has been married to his current wife, Eleni Poulou – who was a member of the Fall between 2002 and 2016 – since 2001.
His death was previously wrongly announced by the BBC in March last year, on his 60th birthday.
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