John Martin Marr is a musician, songwriter and singer. He first achieved fame as the guitarist and co-songwriter of the Smiths, who were active from 1982 to 1987. He has since performed with numerous other bands and embarked on a solo career.

The The are an English post-punk band. They have been active in various forms since 1979, with the singer-songwriter Matt Johnson as the only constant band member. The The achieved critical acclaim and commercial success in the UK, with 15 chart singles, and their most successful studio album, Infected (1986), spent 30 weeks on the chart. They followed this with the top-ten studio albums Mind Bomb (1989) and Dusk (1993).