Brix Smith Start, the former Fall member and Mark E Smith‘s ex-wife, has paid tribute to the late cult icon at the VO5 NME Awards 2018.
Smith Start was lead guitarist and songwriter in The Fall from 1983 until the couple’s divorce 1989. She later returned to the band from 1994 to 1996. Mark E Smith passed away in January.
Paying tribute to her former bandmate and partner at the ceremony this evening, Smith Start said: “We were inseparable, mentally, physically and musically. Mark told me he believed there was only seven original people in the world and that everyone else was a slate of one of them. Mark was absolutely one of the seven.”
“I moved from California, where the sun shines, to Manchester, where it doesn’t,” she continued, “it was the best decision I ever made.”
“Mark Smith defined description, and yet we all try. Genius, poet, punk, pioneer, mad bastard. All of that but none of that.”
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“Mark inspired all of us in The Fall to let go of preconceived notions of what a rock musician was… Nothing was contrived and nothing was insincere… For Mark E Smith, there were no rules.”
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“Raise a glass, goodbye to my friend, soulmate and partner.”
Tonight sees the VO5 NME Awards 2018 descend upon the O2 Academy Brixton in London – where we’ll be celebrating the awesome year we’ve had in music. You can watch all of the action on here.
http://link.brightcove.com/services/player/?bctid=5662357645001
Check back at NME for the latest news, interviews and more from the VO5 NME Awards 2018.