Andrew Michael Rourke is an English musician, best known as the bassist of the Smiths. He is known for his melodic approach to bass playing.
Career
Rourke's father was Irish while his mother was English. He received an acoustic guitar from his parents when he was seven years old. At the age of 11 he befriended the young John Maher with whom he shared an interest in music. The pair spent lunch breaks in school jamming and playing on their guitars. When Marr and Rourke formed a band, he invited Rourke to try on bass, which he fell in love with and has stuck with ever since. Rourke abandoned school when he was 15. He passed through a series of menial jobs and played guitar and bass in various rock bands, as well as in the short-lived funk band Freak Party, with his schoolfriend Johnny Marr. Marr later teamed up with Morrissey to form the Smiths. Rourke joined the band after its first gig, and remained through most of its existence. He was briefly sacked from the band, allegedly receiving the news in a note left under the windscreen wiper of his car: "Andy, you have left the Smiths. Good luck and goodbye, Morrissey". Morrissey has denied this. In May 1986, Rourke rejoined the Smiths, just before they recordedThe Queen Is Dead. Marr described Rourke's contribution to that album as "something no other bass player could match". The Smiths released Strangeways, Here We Come in 1987 to critical acclaim, but split soon after. Immediately after the break-up, Rourke and Smiths drummer Mike Joyce played with Sinéad O'Connor – Rourke appears on the albumI Do Not Want What I Haven't Got. Along with Craig Gannon, they provided the rhythm section for two singles by former Smiths singer Morrissey – "Interesting Drug" and "The Last of the Famous International Playboys". Rourke also played bass on Morrissey's "November Spawned a Monster" and "Piccadilly Palare" and composed the music for Morrissey's songs "Yes, I Am Blind" ; "Girl Least Likely To" ; and "Get Off the Stage". Rourke has also played and recorded with the Pretenders ; Killing Joke, Badly Drawn Boy, Aziz Ibrahim, and ex-Oasis guitarist Bonehead as Moondog One, which also included Mike Joyce and Craig Gannon. Rourke also played bass for Ian Brown, both on tour and on Brown's album The World Is Yours. In March 1996, Rourke and Mike Joyce started legal proceedings against Morrissey and Marr over royalties. While Joyce continued with the action, Rourke settled out of court for £83,000. Having spent the settlement, Rourke later found himself being declared bankrupt following a petition of the Inland Revenue on 25 January 1999. Rourke, his then-manager Nova Rehman, his production company, Great Northern Productions, and others organised Manchester v Cancer, a series of concerts to benefit cancer research, later known simply as Versus Cancer. The initiative was prompted when Rehman's father and sister were diagnosed with the disease. The first Manchester v Cancer concert took place in January 2006. It featured a reunion between Rourke and his former Smiths bandmate Johnny Marr, who performed one song together. The second Manchester v Cancer concert took place in March 2007. Rourke performed with former Oasis guitarist Bonehead's band Elektrik Milk. Rourke was less involved in organising the third concert in February 2008 or the fourth in December 2009. Rourke formed Freebass with bass players Mani and Peter Hook in 2007 and remained active in the group until August 2010. Early in 2009, he moved to New York City, where he has a programme on East Village Radio and works as a club DJ with Olé Koretsky under the name Jetlag. This led to Rourke and Koretsky forming the band D.A.R.K. with vocalist Dolores O'Riordan from The Cranberries. The trio released their debut album, Science Agrees on 9 September 2016. Rourke is a lifelong Manchester United supporter.
