A one-of-a-kind signed hardback copy of Autobiography by Morrissey, the only copy of the full-colour hardback signed by the author, has sold on eBay for £8,300, with all proceeds going to PETA as a New Year’s present to help prevent the slaughtering of animals for meat.
Morrissey signed only one copy of the book – the cover of which pictures the singer-songwriter bare-chested in a swimming pool.
“Animals in dire need of help have no better friend than Morrissey”, says PETA’s Mimi Bekhechi. “Whether it’s cruelty to cows, chickens and pigs headed for the table, animals being made into boots and coats or other abuse, Morrissey speaks out forcefully. The proceeds from his signed autobiography add to the work of this true hero to animals.”
Morrissey has been a solo artist for 26 years, during which time he has had three number one albums in England in three different decades. He has had 11 top 10 albums (plus nine with The Smiths), and his songs have been recorded by David Bowie, Nancy Sinatra, Marianne Faithfull, Chrissie Hynde, Thelma Houston, My Chemical Romance and Christy Moore, amongst others. In 2006, Morrissey was voted the second-greatest living British icon by viewers of the BBC, losing out to Sir David Attenborough. In 2007, Morrissey was voted the greatest “northern” male, past or present, in a nationwide newspaper poll. In 2012, he was awarded the keys to the city of Tel Aviv.
Morrissey’s efforts to help stop animal abuse are legendary and date back nearly three decades. He has teamed up with PETA and its overseas affiliates to encourage people to adopt healthy and compassionate plant-based diets and always have their companion animals spayed and neutered. Morrissey has starred in a number of PETA’s head-turning ad campaigns, and the vegetarian icon recently joined PETA’s fight to pressure department store Fortnum & Mason to stop selling foie gras, which is made from the enlarged and diseased livers of force-fed geese and ducks.
In 2009, Morrissey made international headlines when he walked off stage at a US music festival stating that he hoped the “burning flesh” he smelled was human. And as he performs The Smiths’ “Meat Is Murder”, he regularly screens footage of PETA US’ hard-hitting Meet Your Meat exposé. So it was only fitting that Morrissey was named PETA’s Person of the Year in 2011.
