Overview

• The book is scheduled for UK publication on 6 November 2025 by New Modern, an imprint of Putman Publishing.
• The publisher describes The Drums as a no-holds-barred perspective focused on what it felt like to be in The Smiths.
• Pre-orders are open, with HMV offering a limited hardback signed by Joyce and restricted to one per customer, and wider international release details remain unannounced.
• The Drums becomes the third memoir from a Smiths member, following Morrissey’s Autobiography (2013) and Johnny Marr’s Set the Boy Free (2016), with bassist Andy Rourke having died in 2023 without publishing a memoir.
• Coverage highlights the 1996 High Court ruling that increased Joyce’s royalties and labeled Morrissey “truculent and unreliable,” a defining episode in the band’s history.