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Shaun Ryder, frontman of Happy Mondays, has disclosed that a bout of pneumonia prevented him from attending the funeral of Stone Roses bassist Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield.
Ryder explained that he fell ill while on tour with his other band, Black Grape, which he formed following the initial disbandment of Happy Mondays.
“I got back to go to Mani’s funeral and collapsed,” Ryder stated. “I couldn’t get out of bed… then I got hold of some antibiotics, so it was like a nuclear explosion going off and one feels a lot better now.”
Mounfield’s funeral, held on December 22 at Manchester Cathedral, was attended by numerous family members, friends, and prominent figures from the British music scene of the 1980s and 90s. Read more on the BBC’s coverage.
The bassist, who also contributed to Primal Scream, passed away in his sleep at the age of 63 due to “respiratory issues” linked to emphysema, a long-term lung condition, as confirmed by coroners to the Manchester Evening News.
Ryder and his long-time friend and bandmate Mark ‘Bez’ Berry shared these details during an interview with BBC Radio Manchester, ahead of Happy Mondays’ upcoming tour in March and April. The tour commemorates the 35th anniversary of their seminal album, ‘Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches’.
Released in November 1990, the album marked a significant breakthrough for the band, reaching number four on the UK album charts.
The album features some of the band’s most beloved tracks, including ‘Kinky Afro’, ‘Loose Fit’, and their iconic rendition of John Kongos’s 1971 hit, ‘He’s Gonna Step on You Again’.
The tour will commence in Newcastle and conclude in Belfast, with a homecoming performance scheduled for April 11 at Trafford’s Victoria Warehouse in Manchester.
Reflecting on his memories of the album’s creation, Ryder highlighted the experience of recording at the renowned Capitol Studios in Los Angeles, a venue previously graced by artists such as Bob Marley and the Wailers, The Beach Boys, and Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention.
“Walking into Capitol Studios was just mind-blowing,” he recalled.
“There were Frank Sinatra photographs all over the place and all the huge bands that had worked there.”
He noted, however, that the band’s time in the studio was relatively brief.
“From what I can remember, we made it really quick,” he said.
“The band had about three basslines, three guitar licks and then the rest.
“Oakie [producer Paul Oakenfold] put on some beats, our Paul [Ryder] put some bass to it, Mark [Day] put guitar in and I wrote the songs just one after the other.
“So I remember doing it really, really quickly.”
Bez, who has served as dancer and percussionist in both Happy Mondays and Black Grape, expressed his enthusiasm for returning to the stage in 2026.
“It’s my natural habitat, that place, you know what I mean?” he said.
“I can’t wait to get back on the stage again and do my thing.”
Despite his established role within both bands, Bez admitted that he has only recently become comfortable with his identity as a dancer.
“It’s took me years to own up to being a dancer, because [of how] it sounds.
“But I’ve made it sound really hard now.”
While Bez shared that he enters “auto-pilot and just start dancing” upon hearing songs like ‘Step On’, Ryder confessed that he “never” listens back to his own work.
“It’s not that I don’t like them, it’s just… if we walk into a pub somewhere and I hear one of our songs playing, I’ll do one out the door.”
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