Morrissey has shared a personal tribute to his late manager Peter Katsis, describing him as “a very unusual star” and saying “a world has ended”.
Katsis died last Thursday (August 6) at the age of 69, from what has been reported to be the result of complications from congestive heart failure.
The Chicago native was a major figure in the music industry, having managed the Smashing Pumpkins, Backstreet Boys, Snoop Dogg and Jane’s Addiction among others, and when his passing was first announced, the former Smiths frontman posted a photograph of Katsis.
Now, Morrissey has shared a lengthier tribute, alongside a photograph of Katsis when he went to see the New York Dolls in Chicago in 1973 in drag.
Reflecting on the photo, Morrissey wrote: “He certainly got into the spirit of things. Given his bustling masculinity, he would roar with laughter to know that I have used this shot in summation of his life.”
“I am justifiably glum this week, and it has taken me several days to even face writing this because PK was a very unusual star: an adventurer who enjoyed biting off more than most people could collectively chew,” he continued. “He was very much liked – which was unusual in a music manager. In a way, a dreamy-eyed romantic, but when necessary, a trick octopus.”
Morrissey added: “All liberties were taken; all fun encouraged and consumed. He knew how and when to give momentum another good shove. Sometimes his Chicagoan knuckle-district dialogue was slightly comic strip, but it was all part of his self-destructive charm… taunting an overdose of Dom Perignon because… well, why not?”
He went on to reflect on their shared outlook on the music business. “We were similar in that we were both correct too early – on all predictions. He knew that most modern bands contained neither danger nor mystery, but he gritted his teeth and dealt with the platitudinous industry gabble of Los Angeles.”
In a more personal note, he continued: “When my mother died in 2020, he raced to my side. He knew I couldn’t deal with it. He immediately introduced me to Andrew Watt and we recorded “Bonfire Of Teenagers” faster than the speed of sound – an undreamed-of rescue at a time when another day, for me, might not have come.”
“The future is now merely the remainder of life,” he concluded. “Dead brother buried. A world has ended.”
‘Bonfire Of Teenagers’ was recorded in 2020 and 2021 with Watt as producer, with guests including Miley Cyrus, Iggy Pop and members of Red Hot Chili Peppers, but it remains unreleased.
Among others to pay tribute to Katsis following his death was Smashing Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan, who called him “a dear friend and extended member of our family”, crediting him with helping to “usher in the alternative revolution of the ’80s and ’90s and beyond”.
See further tributes here.