Former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr has revealed he met one-time writing partner Morrissey to discuss a reunion, but believes their friendship cannot be rekindled.
The 51-year-old musician said that their relationship had "run its course" and that the duo were now focused on doing their own thing.
The pair formed a powerhouse writing partnership which shot them to prominence in the early 1980s, with Marr's haunting guitar lines often providing the fitting backdrop to Morrissey's famously bleak subject matter.
The demise of the Manchester four-piece was one of the most spectacular in the history of popular music, the fallout of which saw drummer Mike Joyce and bassist Andy Rourke taking Morrissey and Marr to court over royalties in 1989.
Talk of the band's reformation has dogged both Marr and Morrisey for decades, despite their repeated insistence it was never going to happen.
He told The Guardian Weekend magazine: "I don't feel unfriendly in any way towards Morrissey – there's just no need for it.
"One of the things we had in common was that we lived for work, and we're too busy doing what we're doing now."
Marr, who left The Smiths 29 years ago, also told the magazine how a conversation about reforming the band came out of the blue when the pair met in a south Manchester pub in 2008.
He said: "I didn't go there with that in mind. But there had been quite a few rumours about it, so naturally we discussed it. 'It could happen...' 'How d'you feel about it? ' 'What if?' And off we went.
"I think we were both as keen as each other."
They spoke a few times after leaving the pub, but then Marr toured with the Cribs and didn't hear from Morrissey again.
Marr, who is now teetotal and vegan, has made two solo albums in the past three years.
The father-of-two also told the magazine that hearing his children - son Nile, 24, and daughter Sonny, 22, - sing makes him "blub like an idiot".
His autobiography, Set The Boy Free, is set to be released next week.