New Order drummer Stephen Morris has addressed the possibility of mending fences with former bandmate Peter Hook, a topic that has resurfaced ahead of New Order and Joy Division’s induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this year. Morris shared his thoughts in an interview with Rolling Stone.
The comments touched on Hook’s demeanor over the years and whether Morris believes the bassist has ever truly been content within the bands they shared.
“He’s quite an angry person. Basically, he doesn’t seem happy. He doesn’t strike me as being happy,” Morris said. “He was happy in Joy Division, I think. But even that I’m not entirely sure of because he doesn’t seem happy about anything. He didn’t seem happy in New Order. He doesn’t seem happy playing New Order songs.”
When asked directly about the prospects of reconciliation, Morris offered a candid and uncertain response.
“Will there ever be reconciliation? I don’t know,” he continued. “They do say life’s too short.”
The remarks arrive as both bands prepare for a milestone moment that places their fractured history squarely back in the spotlight.
Joy Division and New Order are entering the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame together as a single combined entry in this year’s induction class. Ian Curtis, Bernard Sumner, Peter Hook, Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert are all named as inductees. The joint honor reflects the direct musical lineage between the two groups. New Order formed from the surviving members of Joy Division following Curtis’s death in 1980.
The ceremony is set for November 14 at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles. Morris has signaled he is unlikely to attend, citing health reasons rather than any protest over the recognition. Hook, on the other hand, has said he intends to be there.
The rift between Hook and his former bandmates stretches back nearly two decades. Hook left New Order in 2007. He later became entangled in a long-running legal dispute with Sumner, Morris and Gilbert over ownership of band assets and rights to the New Order name. The parties reached a settlement in 2017, though the peace has clearly proven fragile in the years since.
Hook has indicated that communication between him and his former bandmates now runs almost exclusively through lawyers, underscoring just how far the relationship has deteriorated. “I had legal letters from them this week,” Hook said, pointing to the ongoing friction even as the Rock Hall induction approaches.
