The Stone Roses formed in Manchester in the early 1980s out of the ashes of punk band The Patrol. Vocalist Ian Brown and guitarist John Squire teamed up with Pete Garner on bass, Andy Couzens on guitar and Alan Wren, known to the band’s fans as Reni, on drums.

By 1988, Brown, Squire and Reni were joined by bassist Mani (*Gary Mountfield*), to complete the classic Stone Roses lineup. With Manchester leading the dance/rock crossover movement, the band added classic pop and psychedelic influences to make them one of Britain’s top bands.

After impressing critics around Britain with singles Sally Cinnamon and Elephant Stone, their self-titled debut record was released in 1989 and made an instant impact. I Wanna Be Adored, Waterfall, She Bangs the Drums, Made of Stone and I Am the Resurrection were all Britpop classics long before the term had even been thought up.

To the British music press, the five-year wait for second album, poignantly titled Second Coming, was the beginning of the end. The album was released at the end of 1994 but, in their lengthy absence, acts like Oasis, Blur and Pulp had stolen the wave the Roses had created and the album bombed. Reni left the band in 1995 and, shortly after Squire left the band in 1996, Brown and Mani decided to part ways.

Since the band’s split. the former Stone Roses have gone on to other things, with varying degrees of success. Brown has released several successful solo albums, collaborating with the likes of DJ Shadow and Noel Gallagher, while Mani joined Primal Scream. Squire formed The Seahorses in the mid-1990s while Reni sings and plays guitar for The Rub.