Reading And Leeds Festival Head Hopes the Smiths Never Reunite

Over the last 25 years, plenty of promoters have offered the Smiths plenty of money to set aside their long-simmering feud and reunite for a tour. But Melvin Benn, who heads up England's massive Reading and Leeds annual summer festivals, is glad they've always refused -- and he hopes they always will.

"I think if the Smiths reformed it would destroy their legacy, personally," Benn told NME. "I’m sure grown men would cry if it happened, but I wouldn’t want to see them reforming."

One reunion Benn does hold out hope for, however, is Oasis. Saying "Hopefully there will come a day" when Noel and Liam Gallagher set aside their differences and get the band back together, Benn pointed out, "Oasis were just one of those bands where you walked away feeling happy. It was very rare you could go and watch Oasis and not have a great time. Whether we wait until 2015, 2020 or 2040 I don’t know, but it'd be nice if it happened at some point."

In any event, neither Oasis nor the Smiths seem anywhere near a reunion; in fact, Smiths guitarist and co-founder Johnny Marr recently joked that he'd only get back together with his former partner Morrissey if the entire British government stepped down.