Hundreds attend Stone Roses Mani’s star-studded funeral in Manchester

Family, friends and fans of Gary “Mani” Mounfield have flocked to Manchester to say goodbye to the much-loved bassist of The Stone Roses and Primal Scream.

Some of the biggest names in British music of the 1980s and 1990s, including his former bandmates Ian Brown and Bobby Gillespie, as well as Oasis frontman Liam Gallagher, attended the service at Manchester Cathedral.

Former Manchester United footballers Sir David Beckham and Gary Neville also attended.

Fans lined the streets as the funeral procession made its way from the star’s home on Heaton Moor in Stockport to Manchester city centre.

Stone Roses singer Brown led the tributes with a eulogy, saying his bandmate was like “a brother to me” and a “beautiful human being.”

Pausing briefly as he entered the church, Brown said he was there to celebrate “what a beautiful human being he was.”

When asked what Mounfield meant to him, the singer said: “Everything. He’s a brother to me, a musical comrade… a beautiful soul and spirit.”

He added that the bassist “was able to laugh in any darkness” and was “the life and soul of any room he was in.”

Brown, whose speech was played to the masses gathered outside, many of whom were wearing bucket hats and Stone Roses T-shirts, was applauded after suggesting he should start a campaign for a lasting statue for his former bandmate.

“A fifteen-foot gold statue of Mani in the city,” he said.

Hundreds of fans gathered outside the cathedral and applauded as the procession arrived, preceded by a guard of motorcyclists while the song I Wanna Be Adored by The Stone Roses played over the speakers.

Mounfield’s coffin, decorated with the classic paint-splattered artwork from The Stone Roses’ first album, was carried into the cathedral as family and friends followed, to more applause from the crowd.

A Manchester United scarf also adorned his coffin, which stood next to a wreath with the Mancunian term of endearment: “R kid”.

Mounfield’s bass was an integral part of The Stone Roses’ “loose” sound, as heard on tracks such as Fools Gold.

He joined another seminal group, Primal Scream, in 1996 and played with them for 15 years, before reuniting with his old band for a series of reunion concerts.

Primal Scream frontman Gillespie followed Brown in delivering his eulogy.

He recalled meeting Mani for the first time at Manchester’s legendary Hacienda nightclub.

“He made me feel like a million dollars. His enthusiasm and positivity were contagious.”

Other Manchester musicians who attended the service included Paul “Bonehead” Arthurs of Oasis, Mike Joyce of The Smiths and Peter Hook of New Order, who played in a band called Freebass with Mani and the late Andy Rourke.

Bez from the Happy Mondays was also present at the funeral, which was a veritable who’s who of the city’s legendary music figures.

Speaking to BBC Radio Manchester, music journalist John Robb described Mani as “very much the heart and soul of Manchester”.

“It was a very typically Mancunian thing, very typically northern as well, you know, beyond the borders of Manchester,” he said.

“The general trend is how many people say they ran into a brilliant guy.”

With Mani on bass, Brown on vocals, John Squire on guitar and Alan “Reni” Wren on drums, The Stone Roses were at the forefront of the “Madchester” indie scene of the late 80s and early 90s, which peaked with a famous gig on Spike Island in Widnes.

They released their beloved self-titled debut album in 1989.

The LP included classic songs such as I Wanna Be Adored, She Bangs The Drums and I Am The Resurrection, all backed by the rhythms of Mani’s bass lines.

It was named the best British album of all time by the Observer in 2004 and by the NME two years later.

Their harder rock follow-up, Second Coming, came out in 1994. Both albums reached the top five in the UK.

After the group disbanded in 1996, Mani joined Scottish rock band Primal Scream, first playing on their album Vanishing Point, released a year later, where his bass playing was a key part of the krautrock-influenced lead single, Kowalski.

Mounfield would record four more albums with Primal Scream before leaving in 2011 to reform The Stone Roses.

The band released two more singles in 2016, but no full-length album followed and the group disbanded once again in 2017 after some old tensions resurfaced.

The Stone Roses played several concerts in the United Kingdom during 2016 and 2017 before their split, including a concert in Glasgow’s Hampden Park, which would end up being the classic line-up’s final concert.

Brown told the crowd: “Don’t be sad that this is over, be happy that it happened.”

Mounfield died peacefully in his sleep due to “respiratory problems” linked to a long-standing lung condition, emphysema, coroners confirmed to the Manchester Evening News.

His wife Imelda died in November 2023, three years after being diagnosed with bowel cancer. The couple has twins, who were born in 2013.

Last month, the bassist attended the funeral of another Manchester icon, Ricky Hatton, at the same cathedral.

His death came after he announced a speaking tour of venues in the UK, in which he would have recounted his experiences and memories in The Stone Roses and Primal Scream starting in September next year.

Squire last week shared a new piece of art in honor of his friend; while another band associated with the city, Doves, paid their own tribute during a weekend concert at the Manchester Apollo, calling Mani a “beautiful person”.