Morrissey splits with manager after 3 months

Singer Morissey, former frontman of The Smiths, performs at a concert in Zagreb, Croatia, July 6, 2006.

LONDON (Billboard) - Morrissey has split with artist management firm ie: music after just three months. An ie: music spokesman confirmed that it had parted company with the ex-Smiths frontman, but declined to give any details.

Morrissey joined ie:music in May, following his split with previous manager Merck Mercuriadis, ex-CEO of the now defunct music company Sanctuary U.S.

Other acts managed by ie:music, which is run by Tim Clark and David Enthoven, include Robbie Williams, Craig Armstrong and Sia.

It's been a tumultuous past couple of months for Morrissey. First, his completed new album, "Years of Refusal," was bumped from a fall release to February 2 by Universal U.K. for unspecified reasons. No U.S. label is on board for the project at this point.

Then, former label Warner Bros. announced the release of a "Live at the Hollywood Bowl" DVD, which the artist blasted as being done "without any consultation to me whatsoever, and in breach of their terms as laid out by themselves in an agreement made for the film between Warner and my ex-manager."

And last week, producer Jerry Finn, who had worked on "Years of Refusal," passed away after suffering a massive brain hemorrhage in July.

Reuters/Billboard