![\"Shaun](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0_JS299325794.jpg\")
Shaun is opening up about paying tribute to a long lost friend<\/p>\nEXCLUSIVE: Shaun Ryder says he wants to be involved in a benefit gig to pay tribute to Stone Roses bass legend Gary “Mani” Mounfield, who died on November 20 aged 63<\/p>\n
18:31, 29 Nov 2025Updated 18:32, 29 Nov 2025<\/p>\n
Shaun is opening up about paying tribute to a long lost friend<\/p>\n
Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder<\/a> says he wants to be involved in a benefit gig to pay tribute to Stone Roses bass legend Gary \u201cMani\u201d Mounfield.<\/a><\/p>\n Mani, who died on November 20 aged 63, left behind 12-year-old twins Gene and George, who had already lost their mum, Mani\u2019s wife Imelda, in 2003 to bowel cancer. Shaun tells us: \u201cI\u2019d definitely be up for a concert, or a benefit. Something for those twins, Gene and George. And of course, in Mani\u2019s memory.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was my mate. I\u2019ve been friends with Mani since the 1980s. He was a funny, beautiful bloke. Nobody had a bad word to say about him. It didn\u2019t come as a huge shock to me though as he\u2019d been poorly for quite a while. It was more of a shock when his wife Imelda went, really. It\u2019s the boys\u2026 I keep thinking about his two twins. They\u2019ve lost their mum and now their dad. It\u2019s terrible.\u201d<\/p>\n Mani follows a sad lineage when it comes to bass players, says Shaun, referencing the death of his own brother Paul Ryder in 2022, aged 58.<\/a> He explains: \u201cIt\u2019s the curse of Manchester bass players, isn\u2019t it? Our Paul died, The Smiths\u2019 bassist Andy Rourke died\u2026 now Mani\u2019s gone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The last time Shaun saw his friend was at Oasis\u2019s string of comeback gigs at Manchester\u2019s Heaton Park in July. \u201cHe was there every night, so was I,\u201d says Shaun. \u201cAnd we were actually saying we should make some music, get together.\u201d<\/p>\n Of fellow Manchester rockers Oasis, who dedicated Live Forever to Mani at last gig in Sao Paulo, Brazil, Shaun is full of praise. He says: \u201cWe\u2019re pals, yeah. I\u2019ve seen more of Noel than I\u2019ve seen of Liam, but they were better than ever in those reunion shows. The band\u2019s really tight. They\u2019ve lost nothing of the rawness, it\u2019s still rock \u2019n\u2019 roll, but they seem more professional. \u201cLiam is performing better than I\u2019ve ever seen him.”<\/p>\n As for his own music, thousands still adore The Happy Mondays. They are hitting the road in 2026 for a UK tour to mark 35 years since their seminal albums Pills \u2019n\u2019 Thrills and Bellyaches.<\/p>\n Shaun says: \u201cWe\u2019ll play tracks from our albums Bummed, Pills \u2019n\u2019 Thrills, all sorts.<\/p>\n \u201cWe even do one from my least favourite album, Yes Please. Those songs still sound really good today. With us it was always sex, drugs and rock \u2019n\u2019 roll. Now we\u2019re just left with the rock \u2019n\u2019 roll. We\u2019re all pensioners \u2013 but we\u2019re looking forward to it, you know.\u201d<\/p>\n The singer, who has always been very open about his drug-taking, says he and bandmate Bez once took LSD every day for a year \u2013 so it\u2019s no wonder he doesn\u2019t remember recording most of Pills \u2019n\u2019 Thrills.<\/p>\n But what he will never forget, is LA\u2019s legendary Capitol Studios. He says: \u201cI remember walking in and seeing pictures of Frank Sinatra. I remember smoking a load of opium. Our pals had come back from a Grateful Dead concert and gifted me a pile of it.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom what I can remember, every time the boys were working on a track, I was writing the lyrics. I wrote all the songs on that album really quickly.<\/p>\n \u201cWe arrived in LA and should have done a show that night but decided we weren\u2019t doing it because Soul II Soul were playing in this little club and that was more important.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite his hard-living, hedonistic past, Shaun says he is doing OK today, except for a myriad health conditions. He says: \u201cI\u2019ve got alopecia, an underactive thyroid, I\u2019ve had a hip replacement and my other one needs doing. And I\u2019ve got ADHD. I didn\u2019t even realise it as a youngster, but I started taking heroin to self-\u00admedicate, to make me feel normal.<\/p>\n \u201cNow I understand why I got into drink and drugs at an early age. And now, because of the meds I\u2019ve been on for a couple of years, I can focus. Of my six kids, five are ADHD or autistic.\u201d<\/p>\n The Happy Mondays\u2019 2026 tour starts at O2 City Hall, Newcastle, March 13.<\/p>\n Like this story? For more of the latest showbiz news and gossip, follow Mirror Celebs on TikTok <\/a>, Snapchat <\/a>, Instagram <\/a>, Twitter <\/a>, Facebook <\/a>, YouTube <\/a>and Threads <\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Shaun](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0_JS389046039.jpg\")
Shaun wants to pay tribute to Mani![\"Shaun\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/0_JS384034193.jpg\")
Shaun is hitting the road in 2026 for a UK tour to mark 35 years since Happy Monday’s seminal albums Pills \u2019n\u2019 Thrills and Bellyaches<\/p>\n