Johnny Marr-Plates

Young and beautiful: The Smiths in 1983.

© Paul Slattery / Retna UK

Love Will Tear Us Apart: Johnny and Morrissey in 1984.

© Sipa Press / Rex Features

One man and his guitar: Johnny Marr admires the legendary Gibson ES-355 bought for him by Seymour Stein.

© Paul Slattery / Retna UK

Johnny and Bernard proving that two heads are better than one? Electronic, 1991.

© Steve Double / Retna

Johnny with Chrissie at the Nelson Mandela benefit, Wembley 1988.

© Richard Young / Rex Features

‘Look out mate – we’re on the stairs!’: Sharing a quiet word with a rather worse-for-wear Liam Gallagher. The Q Awards, 1996.

© Scarlet Page / Retna UK

Two masters at work, as Johnny and revered acoustic guitar master Bert Jansch duet at Patti Smith’s 2005 Meltdown.

© Nickie Divine / Retna UK

Healing hands: Johnny with childhood hero Lenny Kaye. Meltdown, 2005.

© Ilpo Musto / Rex Features

A very modern icon: Johnny Marr plays live with Chic legend Nile Rodgers at Parklife in 2012…

…and is joined onstage by his guitar disciple Noel Gallagher at The Brixton Academy in 2013.

Johnny and Ronnie (Wood, of The Rolling Stones and Faces fame) make an oddly pleasing mirror image as they perform a duet in London.

A 2007 studio portrait with Modest Mouse. Marr and Isaac Brock do things the old-fashioned way, making a racket through a classic phonograph.

There’s life in the old dog yet: a tired guitar hero catches his breath after the Cribs’ show at London’s Heaven nightclub, 2009.

Johnny Marr remains a guitar icon for the ages.