The recent spate of megabuck reunions for 90s bands continues apace with UK indie legends The Stone Roses set to reform later this year for a massive financial windfall. Well, that is if we’re to believe London’s trashy tabloid The Sun. The problem with The Sun’s band split and reformation stories is that they only prove to be correct about 50% of the time. However, the red top’s stories about band break up and reformations of late have tended to be reasonably accurate with the paper breaking stories about Gorillaz and Blur. However, announcements of reformations by The Stone Roses have been a regular occurrence over the last 15 years since their far from amicable split.
The main sticking point in any reformation has been the bitter falling out between singer Ian Brown and guitarist John Squire who quit the band in 1995. The band infamously split after their less than stellar performance headlining the Reading Festival in 1996. As recently as two years ago, rumours abounded that the band would reunite to mark the 20th occasion of their stunning eponymous debut. That was knocked on the head when John Squire released a photo of one of his artworks which bore the sentence “I have no desire whatsoever to desecrate the grave of seminal Manchester pop group The Stone Roses.”
However, The Sun reckons that something is afoot after Squire and Brown attended the recent funeral of bassist Mani’s mother. (Mani currently plays in Primal Scream). Their, as always, unnamed source says that Squire and Brown kissed and made up at the wake setting in train plans for a reunion. “Ian has been mulling over reaching out to John for a while now. A lot of water has gone under the bridge and everyone has grown up. Ian has just gone through a tough time with a divorce and then Mani’s mum’s funeral brought everyone back under the same roof. It was an emotional reunion. There were no harsh words. It was a heartwarming breaking of bread. They had a lot to catch up on and have been in regular contact since.”
While fans worldwide would rejoice if it were true, these rumours about the band come along every few years – we’re not holding our breath.
Update: The Stone Roses’ Mani has hit out at the news, saying tabloid stories were exploiting his personal grief after his mother passed away. He told reporters besieging his house: “I’m disgusted that my personal grief has been invaded and hijacked by these nonsensical stories,” he said, in reference to the fact Squire and Brown exchanged niceties at his mother’s funeral.
He continued: “Two old friends meeting up after 15 years to pay their respects to my mother does not constitute the reformation of The Stone Roses. Please fuck off and leave it alone. It isn’t true and isn’t happening.”
