Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield, bass guitarist with the Stone Roses and Primal Scream, died earlier today at the age of 63. The cause of death has not been shared.
Mani’s 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.”
A founding member of the Stone Roses, Mani first entered a wider music consciousness with the release of their stunning self-titled first album in 1989, a record which to this day still stands as one of the greatest debut albums of all time.
I first saw Mani in concert with the Stone Roses on a cold December night in 1995 at Whitley Bay Ice Rink, a gig that since then has resolutely stayed in my list of “top ten gigs of all time.” Mani and drummer, Robbie Maddox – who had replaced the recently departed Reni – locked into a fantastic groove that anchored Ian Brown’s voice and the incredible pyrotechnics of John Squires’ guitar. They finished their set with ‘I Am the Resurrection’ and that night, musically speaking at least, they most certainly were.
The Stone Roses folded the following year, and Mani joined Primal Scream not long afterwards, prompting a resurgence in the band’s creative fortunes. In 1998 at Manchester Ritz, Primal Scream played another show that ranks very highly in my personal pantheon; the best time I have ever seen them, in fact. That night it was Mani’s wonderfully resolute bass playing that prevented ‘Higher Than the Sun’ from breaking free from its moorings and just taking off.
At that concert Mani also stepped forward to the mic and dedicated a song to “the greatest ever football player…Brian McClair.” It was certainly an interesting choice but also affirmed the fact that Mani was an ardent Manchester United supporter. The club has posted its own tribute to Mani describing him as “a lifelong Red and friend of the club.”
The last time that I would see Mani in concert was with Primal Scream in 2011 on the Other Stage at an incredibly rain-soaked Glastonbury Festival before he would rejoin the reformed Stone Roses.
Mani had recently announced an extensive speaking tour of the UK, which was scheduled to begin next September 2026 and would run through until June of the following year, in which he had promised to look back on many of the wonderful moments in his brilliant career.
Photos: Simon Godley
Main image at ATP festival, Minehead in December 2009.
The other image from the Hop Farm Festival in Kent in July 2010
