LONDON (AFP) — The famously miserable former Smiths frontman Morrissey launched a scathing attack on a music weekly Tuesday, accusing it of portraying him as a racist in an increasingly poisonous row.
Confirming that he is taking legal action against the New Musical Express, he accused it of being "devious" and misrepresenting him to attract publicity in an interview which features on the magazine's latest front cover.
"I believe they have deliberately tried to characterise me as a racist in a recent interview I gave them in order to boost their dwindling circulation," he said in a statement on the music blog of The Guardian.
The dispute started with comments made by the 47-year-old singer -- an anti-monarchist vegetarian whose guitar-driven songs often focus on bleak social commentary -- about the number of immigrants in Britain.
"With the issue of immigration, it's very difficult because, although I don't have anything against people from other countries, the higher the influx into England the more the British identity disappears," he told the weekly.
The NME published the interview under the front-page strapline "Bigmouth Strikes Again," -- a reference to The Smiths' hit from their 1986 album "The Queen is Dead" -- triggering growing debate on the issue over the last week.
The NME has refused to comment on the row, although angry exchanges between its editor and Morrissey's manager have appeared online (www.true-to-you.net/), and the journalist who did the interview has defended his work.
"If Morrissey holds these opinions he should either be sticking to his guns and standing by them or -- more honorably -- educating himself on race issues," NME reporter Tim Jonze wrote last week, also on The Guardian's blog.
Morrissey -- the son of Irish immigrants who now lives in Rome and Los Angeles -- has a history of animosity with the NME.
The weekly accused him of pandering to the far-right because his solo track "National Front Disco" from the 1992 album "Your Arsenal" contained the lyrics "England for the English" and the singer paraded on stage with the Union flag.
In his latest statement he lashed out at the journalist in typical style, nothing that during the interview he "accepted every answer I gave him with a schoolgirl giggle".
He also noted that he is backing a "Love Music Hate Racism" campaign, which will be linked to forthcoming concerts he is due to play in London.
"I abhor racism and oppression or cruelty of any kind and will not let this pass without being absolutely clear and emphatic with regard to what my position is," he said.
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