Andy Rourke death: The Smiths bassist dies aged 59

Sign up to Roisin O’Connor’s free weekly newsletter Now Hear This for the inside track on all things music Get our Now Hear This email for free Get our Now Hear This email for free SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. “It is with deep sadness that we announce the passing of Andy Rourke after a lengthy illness with pancreatic cancer,” Rourke’s former bandmate, The Smiths’ guitarist Johnny Marr, wrote on Twitter. open image in gallery Andy Rourke playing guitar with Jonny Marr The Smiths split two years later, following the release of album Strangeways, Here We Come, and Rourke immediately found work playing bass for Sinead O’Connor. “I remember so clearly playing that Barbarism break over and over, trying to learn the riff, and marvelling at this steely funk driving the track along.” open image in gallery Andy Rourke pictured with his Smiths bandmates in 1987 Travis frontman Fran Healy added: “Andy was such a lovely gentle soul”, while record producer Stephen Street wrote: “So sad to hear this news Johnny. “Throughout our teens we played in various bands around South Manchester before making our reputations with The Smiths from 1982 to 1987, and it was on those Smiths records that Andy reinvented what it is to be a bass guitar player.” Marr said that witnessing Rourke play bass during The Smiths’ sessions was “an absolute privlege and genuinely something to behold”.