With which group was Morrissey the lead singer?
Autobiography (Morrissey) Morrissey's childhood and adolescence, his period as lead singer with The Smiths, his subsequent solo career and his courtroom battles with Smiths drummer Mike Joyce, who successfully sued him for unpaid royalties in the 1990s. He writes extensively about the television, literature and music that influenced him, devoting many pages to the New York Dolls, whom he persuaded to reform in the 2000s. The book includes a number of descriptions of people Morrissey has worked with which his biographer Tony Fletcher calls "character assassinations". Fletcher describes the depiction of Rough Trade Records boss Geoff Travis as particularly unflattering. Morrissey writes
Morrissey he has reached in his lifetime." According to Bret, Morrissey's fanbase "religiously followed his every pitfall and triumph". Simpson highlighted an example during the U.S. leg of Morrissey's 1996 "Maladjusted" tour in which young men asked the singer to sign his autograph on their neck, which they subsequently had permanently tattooed into their skin. Rogan compared Morrissey to Wilde's character Dorian Gray "in reverse; while he slowly ages, his audience remains young". Rogan also noted that while onstage, Morrissey "revels in the messianic adoration" of his fans. Soon after achieving national fame, Morrissey became a gay icon, with Bret noting