Stones Roses Reunion Picking Up Steam : October 18, 2011

One of the few consistencies in the Stone Roses career has been the large amounts of time they spend between projects. Five years lapsed between the time the English band [...]

Mani Dashes Rumors of Stone Roses Reunion : April 10, 2011

John Squire, Ian Brown's label, and a biographer of Stone Roses are all saying that the rumors of a reunion tour of 21 dates are not true. According to a Daily Mirror [...]

stone roses Biography

Hailing from the Manchester music scene which started in the ’80s is Manchester-based alternative band The Stone Roses. The band is comprised of Ian Brown on vocals, John Squire on guitars, Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield on bass and Alan ‘Reni’ Wren on drums.

The band’s formative years trace back from 1983, after which, it took them six years before they settled with their current line-up and released their debut album. Indie musicians Andy Couzens, Pete Garner, Simon Wolstencroft and Rob Hampson were also involved before the band’s debut, while drummer Robbie Maddix, keyboardist Nigel Ippinson and guitarist Aziz Ibrahim took part in the band’s series of line-up changes during the mid-90s.

The band released their eponymous debut album under indie label Silvertone in 1989. The platinum certified record peaked at no.5 in the UK albums charts and spawned the singles ‘Made of Stone’ and ‘She Bangs the Drums’, their first Top 40 single and their first no.1 on the UK Independent Charts. However, their breakout hit would come not from this album, but from an A-side entitled ‘Fools Gold/What the World is Waiting For’, which they released in the same year and earned them their first Top 10 single in the UK charts (peaking at no.8) and finally gained them mainstream popularity when they performed the song on the British countdown show, ‘Top of the Pops’. In the years that followed, the band would be in the middle of a lawsuit against their label in their pursuit to be freed off their five-year contract, for grounds of under-compensation. The Stone Roses won the legal battle in 1991 and immediately signed under Geffen Records who lured them through a million-pound advance for their second album, whose release date was delayed, thanks to an appeal filed by Silvertone.

In December 1994, the group came back on the scene via ‘Second Coming’, their second release which featured a heavier rock and blues sound compared to the hippy yappy sound of Madchester. The album peaked at no.4 in the charts and its lead single, ‘Love Spreads’, became the band’s most successful single ever, peaking at no.2 in the singles charts. The following year marked a line-up change for the band as drummer Reni departed and was replaced by Maddix, and a keyboardist, Ippinson, was added to the mix for the band’s live performances.

After a successful tour in late 1995, Squire also left the band in spring of the following year, and was replaced by Ibrahim. After largely panned performances at the Benicassim and Reading Festivals, the band eventually disbanded.

After fifteen years of quiescence and individual endeavors, The Stone Roses announced via a press conference on October 18, 2011 that they will regroup and will play Manchester’s Heaton Park on June 29, 30 and July 1, 2012 (tickets for these shows have sold out in less than 15 minutes) before embarking on a lengthy world tour. The band also mentioned that a new album is already in the works.