It's just been confirmed by his manager and partner, Pat Van Damned, that Mark E. Smith, the wonderful curmudgeon who helmed The Fall since the late '70s, has died aged 60. No other details are known at present.
The tributes are coming in thick and fast as you can see below. We love this yarn from Suede's Mat Osman: "Aw man, Mark E. Smith. What a total inspiration. A guiding light of independence, intelligence, poetry and sheer bloody-mindedness. I have a Mark E. Smith story actually. Back in the day Suede got asked to support The Fall on a couple of dates. To a man we were massive fans and VERY excited to be asked. Everyone told us he could be rough on support bands but he was great. Lots of time to soundcheck. He was friendly, helpful, told us to come straight to him with any problem. The shows were great, his crowd were great, The Fall were great. On our way home in the van we were listening to Richard Skinner and he had an interview with Mark. We listened in intently. Especially when Skinner asked, 'Do you like any of the new bands who are calling you an influence?' Mark said, 'Like who?' Skinner asked, 'Well, like Suede.' There was a perfectly timed beat. 'Never heard of them.'"
Hot Press encountered him many a time, and always ended up with a wonderful interview. Scroll down for an especially brilliant 1993 chat he had with Dan Oggly. Mark E. truly was a one off...

Oh man. Mark E Smith. One of my biggest heroes. Had a nightmare interviewing him (of course) but then he put me in a song. So sharp, clever and untouchably cool. Thanks for the music, MES.

— Lauren Laverne (@laurenlaverne)

January 24, 2018

First we lost Ursula Le Guin, then Hugh Masekela, now Mark E Smith. Been a tough week for cultural icons.

— Billy Bragg (@billybragg) January 24, 2018

Mark E Smith was a complex, driven man. I greatly admired him as an artist and -both despite and because of his eccentricities- really liked him as a person. RIot in Righteousness, Mark mate.

— Irvine Welsh (@IrvineWelsh) January 25, 2018

God help us. RIP Mark E Smith pic.twitter.com/55ooBvnpbt

— gorillaz (@gorillaz) January 24, 2018

So so sad to hear that we’ve lost Mark E Smith. A true uncompromising musical maverick. A genius, a curmudgeon and someone whose company it was an honour to share. So long M.E.S x x x pic.twitter.com/aZFGNXZuRW

— Tim Burgess (@Tim_Burgess) January 24, 2018

Alas, the great Mark E Smith has passed away. Not merely a legend of indie music, but someone who, for me, was a gateway into that very genre. Will be blasting the A Sides album all week now. The Fall are no more, long live the Fall! pic.twitter.com/rsxFybINmn

— edgarwright (@edgarwright) January 24, 2018

Very sad to hear the news about Mark E Smith. Known him a long time and had the usual mixture of madness and monkey business with him. Love The Fall. So many tales. Thoughts are with family, friends, fans, and Fall members past and present. RIP #TheFall #MarkESmith

— Pete Wylie is WAH!? (@petewylie) January 24, 2018

The death of Mark E Smith is news I'd been dreading. One of my heroes, and a man I was proud to call a friend. I wrote this about him last year, knowing he was ill....https://t.co/RTvvWz7Hed I'll miss you Mark. pic.twitter.com/gm9IlLNlxW

— Dave Haslam (@Mr_Dave_Haslam) January 24, 2018

THAT CLASSIC INTERVIEW...

Fifteen years on and still in a league of his own, Dan Oggly talks to Mark E. Smith about fame, footie and the truth behind his 'difficult' reputation.

"Last night in Munich we played in that airport where the 'Busby Babes' crashed. They've turned it into a venue, can you believe that? Only the Germans could do that. But it's dead funny cos most of the group are, like, Man United fans and I'm a City fan going "Yeeaaay!""

Mark E. Smith, the wilfully idiosyncratic and wholly eccentric frontman of The Fall, is talking in distinctive Mancunian tones from his hotel room in Vienna.

And he's in a good mood, despite having just gigged in a country that he actively dislikes visiting - "I get the shakes when I just hear a German. My dad was in the Black Watch, and me Granddad as well, they spent their lives bloody killing SS guys, so I don't really want to know. I've got an SS dagger over me bleeding fireplace off me dad . . ."

But did he notice any changes in the feel of the country vis a vis the rise of the right? No, he noticed the lack of cleanliness of the streets.

"You used to be able to eat your fucking dinner off a German street, now it's a lot worse than Manchester."

Outspoken, vehemently political (and conservative with it), offensive, obnoxious . . . his reputation travels before him at the speed of light.

It's fifteen years down the line for Smith and The Fall and their cult/underground popularity shows no sign of either diminishing or breaking out above ground into the glitzy world of razzamatazz.

Their last album, The Infotainment Scan, ploughed more of the same brilliantly distinctive style of music that dates back virually to the outset of the band. And things aren't about to change now.

"I'm a big Fall fan believe it or not, honestly," Smith insists when questioned on his musical tastes. "I think The Fall are great. I like a lot of slow rave stuff, too, it reminds me of The Fall. And I like a lot of heavy bass, almost like dub, the old dub reggae stuff."

But what's it all for? Fifteen years to what end?

"I don't know, I keep enjoying it, so . . . We get the best of both worlds, really. Cos people really do like us, they're fierce about us. I earn a living out of it but I can also walk the streets at night and I'm not on fucking MTV all the time, which I wouldn't like anyway."

What! The godfather of alternative English music shying away from the limelight?

"I think it takes something out of you. I did an advertisement for MTV, for a show, and it's one of the few things I regret about my career in the last year or so. You get all these dirty old taxi drivers who watch it, all these wankers, stupid barmen, you know, people you don't like going 'I know you, you're in that band' . . . I like to walk round, I like to be a bit anonymous, you know."

And now to the heart of the matter: Mark E. Smith and his reputation. With numerous line-up changes, vicious arguments and generally spiky behaviour, does he blame people for assuming that he's an obnoxious, cantankerous bastard?

"I don't know, people just . . . take this for an example, I've been through like three tour managers in about the last six months. In America our tour manager lasted about a week, and in Europe the tour manager lasted about four days.

"I just can't stand a lot of people in the music business. They're jumped-up executives. They've taken all the fun out of it and they just want to run it like a business. They treat all the bands like idiots and they expect every group to be like a stupid kid, and I won't put up with it.

"I do shout a lot, but you just can't say anything to them. I'm a bit old-fashioned like that, you know, if you can't piss on the pot get off it!"

The Fall's visit to Ireland this month will be their first for over ten years. Mark E. insists that on their last visit they played The Eamon Andrews' Club. Despite the paucity of visits here Smith remembers that he was "virtually brought up by an Irish family". "I come from a very big family, so I used to hang around with the Irish kids and one particular Irish family round the block . . ."

Even so, this will not mean that Smith's arrival in Dublin will be just like coming home.

"Don't worry I'm not gonna start singing about my homeland and all that. We're not U2, you know."