Letters by pre-Smiths Morrissey set for auction

Letters by pre-Smiths Morrissey set for auctionImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, Morrissey was one of the pioneers of British indie rock in the 1980sByEmma StanleyNorth WestPublished21 minutes agoLetters written by a young Morrissey before he formed The Smiths are to go to auction where they are expected to sell for £22,000.The archive of letters, written to Birmingham pen friend, Simon Pitt, who would go on to become the city's poet laureate, by the singer between the ages of 14 and 20, includes one in which Morrissey says "my ambition is to be a rock 'n' roll star or an actor, or a writer".Another letter dated a number of weeks later adds: "I always said I was a genius, but nobody listened."The letters, written between 1974 and 1979, are expected to fetch a combined £22,000 estimate when they go on sale in London.Image source, PA MediaImage caption, The letters are expected to sell for £22,000They are being offered as separate lots in Before The Smiths: The Morrissey Letters, which will be held at Dawsons Auctioneers on 26 August.The period documented in the letters was featured in the 2017 biopic England Is Mine, which follows the young singer, whose full name is Steven Morrissey, as he struggles to find his place before forming The Smiths with guitarist Johnny Marr in 1982.In the letters, Morrissey also speaks about seeing The Sex Pistols at Manchester's Lesser Free Trade Hall in June 1976, which he says changed his opinion on the band.In the letter, he says: "As for the Pistols... they were pathetic. I take back all that I've said about the Pistols... They are just plain bad. Period."He also speaks about meeting Patti Smith, along with Johnny Thunders and Jerry Nolan of the New York Dolls - the band whose UK fan club Morrissey was the president of.Image source, PA MediaImage caption, The letters were written by the singer between the ages of 14 and 20Morrissey speaks of visiting New York punk club CB...