Johnny Marr
Latest Johnny Marr news, guitars, gear, music, performances, and collaborations covered by Guitar Radar.
Guitar Radar has 2 stories about Johnny Marr, tracking new music, tours, collaborations and gear. Most of it sits under music and players. The most recent story, from Oct 16, 2026, is “Blondie announce High Noon, their first album in nine years”. Coverage here goes back to Sep 18, 2026.
About Johnny Marr
Johnny Marr is the guitarist behind The Smiths and a long list of collaborations, and his guitar choices are unusually well documented. His Smiths-era sound came largely from a Rickenbacker 330, a 1982 Jetglo, which he first bought as a backup and which became better than his main guitar; he has said it steered him toward unusual arpeggios and chord changes. He used it on This Charming Man and What Difference Does It Make, and on the studio version of This Charming Man it was double-tracked with a Telecaster that belonged to producer John Porter.
Gibson guitars were also central: a 1960 ES-355 was used to write Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now, and a 1984 Les Paul Standard was the last guitar he played with The Smiths. A 1971 Martin D-28 twelve-string is where he wrote songs such as There Is a Light That Never Goes Out.
He is most strongly identified with the Fender Jaguar, and designed his Fender signature Jaguar in 2012. His guitar collection of nearly 100 guitars went to auction at Christie's, as reported by the music press.
Sources: Guitar World: Johnny Marr, a life in guitars · Mixdown: Gear Rundown, Johnny Marr · NME: Johnny Marr to auction nearly 100 of his guitars
Stories
Blondie announce High Noon, their first album in nine years
The 13-track February 2027 album opens with Johnny Marr collaboration “Spectral Eyes” and includes Clem Burke's final Blondie recordings.
Johnny Marr's guitar collection sells for £3.65 million at Christie's
The 111-lot London sale more than tripled its estimate, led by Marr's Smiths-era 1982 Rickenbacker 330 Jetglo at £358,400.