Johnny Marr was co-creator and lead guitarist of The Smiths. He went on to join The The and The Pretenders and collaborated with Talking Heads and the Pet Shop Boys before forming Electronic with Bernard Sumner. In the 2000s he joined Modest Mouse and The Cribs before launching a successful solo career. He has added his distinctive sound to film soundtracks, collaborating with Hans Zimmer on Inception, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 and the latest James Bond film, No Time to Die, which won the Oscar for Best Song. In 2014 Marr developed and launched a guitar with Fender: the Johnny Marr Signature Fender Jaguar has gone on to be one of Fender's most popular models.
"'A great book, I really enjoyed looking at it … fascinating' - Jools Holland, Later With Jools Holland, BBC2 'If you are even remotely interested in guitars or the geniuses that play them you have to get a copy of Marr’s Guitars. A lush, mouthwatering masterpiece of a book' - Shaun Keaveny 'Creating a visually arresting, high-quality art book became Marr’s main aim, and he approached it with the tenacity and enthusiasm he would normally bring to a new album' - Guardian 'The wonderfully curated and intentionally detailed collection is eye candy for music fans of all kinds ... Each tale is a glimmer, every guitar unraveling personal moments that were inspiring and formative. In totality, it’s a beautiful journey ... Marr’s recollections transport the reader to a different time' - Forbes 'A guitar book for people ""who wouldn’t normally have guitar books"" ... As Hans Zimmer aptly writes in the foreword, ""the guitar... lets us reveal our true selves more profoundly than words ever could""' - Daily Mail 'What a love story this book is. The electric guitar - the greatest weapon ever given to the working class' - Gary Kemp 'Marr’s Guitars is not just a love-letter to Marr’s beloved instrument; it’s a historical reference' - Paste magazine 'A coffee table book of stunning guitar photographs from Johnny Marr’s collection ... tells the story of Marr’s life through his guitars. Complementing the guitar pictures are classic photographs of Marr himself. Some of these are familiar, many of them are not ... In three sections, Marr himself is interviewed. His responses are not a rehash of his well-received 2016 autobiography, Set the Boy Free. Rather, they offer a different perspective on Marr’s experiences through the lens of his guitars. Marr’s Guitars has an unexpected emotional impact ... Marr’s Guitars is a book for Marr fans, for Smiths fans, for fans of guitars, but also for appreciators of art and photography' - SPIN 'Highlights just how wide his taste and use of different models has been over his career so far' - Music Radar 'This is so much more than just a beautiful photo book of guitars, it’s a celebration of one of the world’s very best guitarists, his esteemed career and how he “turned his daydreams into sound' - CLASH"