Johnny Marr has compared himself to Yoko Ono.

Johnny Marr

Johnny Marr

The legendary guitarist thinks John Lennon's widow - who was widely blamed for splitting up The Beatles - is the only person to have reached the level of hatred over the end of a band as he did when he left The Smiths in 1987.

He said: "Without getting too melodramatic about it, I don't think anyone has ever had such a hard time for such a long time about the end of a band as I have, besides Yoko Ono.

"And I was only 23. I felt like I had to keep explaining myself for years and years."

But Johnny insists his departure from the band was "inevitable" as he couldn't see a future with the group.

He said: "I can only say I had no choice.

"It had been building up for a long time so it wasn't impulsive. It was a f***ing drag.

"It was messy and it was horrible but I knew I didn't have a choice for a while before I left.

"I think as humans we hang on to avoid pain. We do it in relationships. It's understandable.

"But events have a way of conspiring to make things happen when things aren't right.

"It's very sad but entirely inevitable.

"I formed The Smiths and it was my band and it broke up and it was absolutely devastating that it couldn't continue but I couldn't see a future in it."

And Johnny had no idea what the future held for him when he quit the iconic band, admitting he even considered having to sign on the dole again.

He told Q magazine: "I had absolutely no plan at all.

"I knew I was going to be a guitar player but it wasn't completely out of the realms of my concern that I was going to go back on the dole.

"Even though I'd had all this history and become a known person, I wasn't going to walk around with all my great reviews in my pocket.

"I was back to where I was when I started out, crossing my fingers and hoping I'd meet some good people."

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