Gary 'Mani' Mounfield, the Stone Roses and Primal Scream bassist, dies aged 63

[highplainsdem]

(Cross-post from LBN)

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2025/nov/20/gary-mani-mounfield-the-stone-roses-and-primal-scream-bassist-dies-aged-63

Gary “Mani” Mounfield, best known as a founding member and bassist of the Stone Roses, has died aged 63. The cause of death has not been shared.

His brother Greg Mounfield posted the news on Facebook: “It is with the heaviest of hearts that I have to announce the sad passing of my brother.” His nephew also shared the news.

-snip-

Mani formed the band the Fireside Chaps with John Squire and Andy Couzens in Greater Manchester in the early 80s. After several name and lineup changes, including taking on Ian Brown as frontman, they became the Stone Roses and played their first official gig in October 1984.

-snip-

Produced by John Leckie, their 1989 self-titled debut steadily became one of the key fixtures of the Madchester movement, synthesising indie music with rave culture, its grooves led by Mani and drummer Alan “Reni” Wren. In 1991, then-NME critic Mary Anne Hobbs called it “the most fluent crossover album of the last decade”.

-snip-

That debut album is one of the greatest rock albums ever. And British rock in the '90s would have been very different without the Roses' influence on younger bands, especially Oasis.

Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stone_Roses

Article on some of Mani's greatest songs: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/the-underrated-legacy-of-mani-through-five-songs/

RIP, Mani. Gone too soon.

[highplainsdem]

1. I'm going to link to the LBN thread and copy the Accolades section from Wikipedia for anyone

who doesn't understand how important this band and their debut album were.

LBN link - and you'll find more articles about Mani there: https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143568733

From Wikipedia's article on the debut album:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Stone_Roses_(album)

Accolades

In 1997, The Stone Roses was named the second greatest album of all time in a "Music of the Millennium" poll conducted by HMV, Channel 4, The Guardian and Classic FM.[45] In 1998, Q magazine readers placed it at number 4,[46] while in 2000 the same magazine placed it at number 29 in its list of the "100 Greatest British Albums Ever."[47] In 2004, the album was voted the best British album of all time in The Observer's poll of 100 musicians and critics.[48] In 2006, Q placed the album at number 5 in its list of "40 Best Albums of the '80s".[49] In 2008, it was named the fifth "greatest British album ever" by a Q magazine/HMV poll.[50]

In 2000, it received the "greatest album ever" award at the NME Premier Awards show, and in 2006, the album topped the magazine's "100 Greatest British Albums Ever" list.[51] In 2005, Spin magazine ranked it 78 on its list of the "100 greatest albums of the past twenty years."[52] In the same year, when revising their list of the "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" for book format, Rolling Stone included it as one of eight new entries, placing it at number 497; in the 2012 revised list, they placed the album at number 498, saying that the album "single-handedly launched Nineties Brit pop", and in the 2020 update of the list the album's rank climbed to number 319.[53][54] In 2006, Time named it one of "The All-TIME 100 Albums".[55] In 2003, Pitchfork named it the 39th best album of the 1980s.[56] In 2012, Slant Magazine listed the album at number 28 on its list of "Best Albums of the 1980s".[57] The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[58] It was voted number 11 in the third edition of Colin Larkin's All Time Top 1000 Albums (2000).[59]

In 2006, British Hit Singles & Albums and NME organised a poll of which, 40,000 people worldwide voted for the 100 best albums ever and The Stone Roses was placed at number seven on the list.[60] In 2010, The Stone Roses won the Mojo Classic Album award. Upon announcing the award, Mojo noted how the band "managed to sum up an era and to create a piece of work that also transcends the time in which it was made."[61] In 2013 The Flaming Lips and friends honoured the record with The Time Has Come to Shoot You Down… What a Sound, a reworking of the entire album.[62] In 2014, the staff of PopMatters included the album on their list of "12 Essential Alternative Rock Albums from the 1980s".[39] In 2013, the album ranked number 7 on NME's The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.[63]

In 2020, it came third in the BBC Radio 2 "Ultimate 80's Album" poll,[64] beating albums such as "Thriller" by Michael Jackson, "Appetite for Destruction" by Guns N' Roses and "Purple Rain" by Prince. The listeners poll, which had "tens of thousands of votes", had a list of 50 albums to choose from that were selected by a panel of music experts. The shortlist was based on sales from each year of the decade, alongside a selection of albums that have endured the test of time.