Johnny Marr to release solo charity single

Marr onstage with The Cribs last month. (Image credit: Michael Travis/Corbis)

Johnny Marr, former guitarist of Manchester legends The Smiths and more recent member of indie bands The Cribs and Modest Mouse, is set to release a new charity single.

Tendency To Be Free is a cover of a '60s garage number by Rabbit Mackay, which featured on the soundtrack of cult biker B-movie Angels Die Hard. All proceeds from the single, which is released October 4, will go to Centrepoint - a charity helping to improve the lives of homeless young people.

The single is taken from a new compilation album of '60s covers to be released in aid of Centrepoint. The album, 1969: Key To Change, will also feature turns from Hard-Fi, The Feeling and Get Cape Wear Cape Fly.

Both the single Tendency To Be Free and 1969: Key To Change are released October 4. Both can be pre-ordered here.You can read a full interview with Johnny Marr in this month's Total Guitar.

I'm the Managing Editor of Music Technology at MusicRadar and former Editor-in-Chief of Future Music, Computer Music and Electronic Musician. I've been messing around with music tech in various forms for over two decades. I've also spent the last 10 years forgetting how to play guitar. Find me in the chillout room at raves complaining that it's past my bedtime.

More about artists

“I didn’t even realise it had synthesizer on it for decades”: This deep dive into The Beatles' Here Comes The Sun reveals 4 Moog Modular parts that we’d never even noticed before

“I saw people in the audience holding up these banners: ‘SAMMY SUCKS!' 'WE WANT DAVE!’”: How Sammy Hagar and Van Halen won their war with David Lee Roth

“I’ve often wondered if it was the Devil grinning up at me, or God smiling down on me. I still haven’t figured out who had the final say”: How a feat of spontaneous creativity resulted in one of Pink Floyd’s most majestic moments

See more latest

Get the MusicRadar Newsletter