Morrissey has performed The Smiths‘ ‘Paint A Vulgar Picture’ for the first time in almost 30 years. Watch the footage below.
The former frontman of the iconic Manchester band kicked off his 2026 solo tour in San Antonio, Texas, last Saturday (January 10). It came shortly after he returned with the title track from his new album ‘Make-Up Is A Lie’, which is set for release on March 5.
Read More: The Smiths: every song ranked in order of greatness
Early on in the 18-song set, Morrissey dusted off a rarity from The Smiths’ fourth and final studio album ‘Strangeways, Here We Come’ (1987).
‘Paint A Vulgar Picture’ sees Morrissey and co. take aim at the music industry. He sings about the “sickening greed” of record companies, and “sycophantic slags” rushing to sell the music of a “dead star“.
“Re-issue, re-package, re-package/ Re-evaluate the songs/ Double pack with a photograph/ Extra track, and the tacky badge,” it goes (via Genius).
Before his gig over the weekend, Morrissey hadn’t performed ‘Paint A Vulgar Picture’ since 1997 (via Setlist.FM).
The track landed at Number 39 on NME‘s ranking of every Smiths song in 2024.
“Moz takes on the music biz while [Johnny] Marr nods his head sadly in the background,” the entry read. “Wags have had a lot of fun with the sneering ‘reissue, repackage, repackage‘ line, given how many Smiths records have been, erm, reissued and repackaged.”
Elsewhere in his set on Sunday, Morrissey played The Smiths’ ‘There Is a Light That Never Goes Out’, ‘How Soon Is Now?’, ‘I Know It’s Over’ and ‘Last Night I Dreamt That Somebody Loved Me’.
The rest of the show consisted of cuts from his solo career, but did not feature his new single ‘Make-Up Is A Lie’.
Morrissey’s US tour is set to resume in Oklahoma City tonight (Tuesday January 13). He recently announced his only UK gig for this year, taking place at The O2 in London on February 28 as part of his European tour. Find any remaining tickets here.
His forthcoming new album seems to represent a different record from his long-delayed full-length project, ‘Bonfire Of Teenagers’.
The return of ‘Paint A Vulgar Picture’ in his solo set could be a nod to him previously accusing his former label Capitol Records of “fascism” and having a “creeping culture of censorship”.
Morrissey said in 2023 that he was “quickly coming around to” the belief that the company had only signed ‘Bonfire…’ “in order to sabotage it”. The previous year, he revealed that he had “voluntarily withdrawn from any association with Capitol Records”.
Last month, he confirmed that he had signed a new deal with Sire. The US label is owned by Warner Music Group and distributed by Warner Records.
Other allegations from Morrissey included claims that the CEO of Capitol was trying to derail his career. He also took to his website to say he was being “gagged” over the release of ‘Bonfire…’.
The singer-songwriter announced in 2024 that he had bought back the rights to ‘Bonfire Of Teenagers’, but it remains unclear if it will be released anytime soon.
His new album ‘Make-Up Is A Lie’ saw him reunite with Joe Chiccarelli (The Strokes, The White Stripes, Weezer, My Morning Jacket), and return to La Fabrique Studios in southern France. Joining him on the instrumentation are Jesse Tobias, Camila Grey, Carmen Vandenberg, Juan Galeano, Alain Whyte, Gustavo Manzur and Brendan Buckley.
“I insist on being myself in spite of much discouragement, and this new music is a valid portrait of much more to come in 2026,” Morrissey wrote. “Born, then born, and born again. I am your lover-to-be.”
In 2025, Morrissey said he was “burnt out by any and all connections” to his ex-Smiths bandmates. He wrote that he had “no choice but to offer for sale all of his business interests” in the band to any potential investors or parties.
However, he stopped accepting applications shortly afterwards, following a “colossal response”.
The post Watch Morrissey play The Smiths’ ‘Paint A Vulgar Picture’ for first time in 29 years as he kicks off 2026 tour appeared first on NME.