Shaun Ryder says Mani, Andy Rourke and Tony Wilson deserve statues in Manchester
He reckons Manchester should honour its music icons
Happy Mondays vocalist Shaun Ryder has argued that Manchester should honour late music icons like The Stone Roses’ Mani, The Smiths’ Andy Rourke and Factory Records boss Tony Wilson with statues.
To celebrate Happy Mondays’ upcoming 'Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches' 35th anniversary UK tour, the intimidate Shaun Ryder and Bez joined Bush & Richie on Hometime on Monday for a typically entertaining chat.
Naturally, the conversation touched upon the tragic death of their good friend, Stone Roses and Primal Scream bassist Mani, last November.
Shaun praised the late-great Mani as an “absolutely beautiful person” with “no ego”, while Bez added: “He had time for everybody. He treated everyone equally. And you know, he had an infectious laugh.
“He was like genuinely one of the lads. You could see that from the people that turned up at the funeral (in December) for him. From every walk of life, they were all there for him. He treated everybody as equals, and he could talk to anybody and that’s what was magic about him. And he was a passionate (Manchester) United fan as well!”
When Bush asked if Mani should be honoured with a statue in Manchester, Shaun responded: “Well, look, we haven’t got a statue for Tony Wilson yet. We’re not Liverpool where there’s (lots of) statues.
“You’ve got The Bee Gees in the Isle of Man, you’ve got Morecambe & Wise (Eric Morecambe) in Morecambe, you’ve got The Beatles statues in Liverpool. We don’t have statues. Manchester doesn’t do statues like that. There’s a call for Tony Wilson to be honoured like that but it’s not happening.”
Shaun continued: “It doesn’t take a big business brain to go ‘well, if we throw a few of these statues up like Mani and Andy Rourke or (Factor Records') Martin Hannett, and stick them around central Manchester, they’re gonna bring in tourists who then (they) go in your hotels.’”
Happy Mondays UK tour:
Happy Mondays open the 'Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches' tour at Newcastle O2 City Hall on Friday 13th March and they finish with a three-night residency at Glasgow Barrowland from Thursday 16th to Saturday 18th April.
They also visit Leeds, Nottingham, Cardiff, Liverpool, Sheffield, Cambridge, London, Southend, Norwich, Brighton, Bristol, Birmingham, Bournemouth, Margate, Guildford and Manchester.
Happy Mondays’ support acts at all 20 shows are ‘Groovy Train’ and ‘All Together Now’ hitmakers The Farm, and former Factory Records labelmates Northside.
Tickets are on sale from Absolute Radio Tickets RIGHT HERE.
Happy Mondays’ UK tour dates:
MARCH 2026
Newcastle O2 City Hall – Fri 13th
Leeds O2 Academy – Sat 14th
Nottingham Rock City – Sun 15th
Cardiff DEPOT – Fri 20th
Liverpool Mountford Hall - Sat 21st
Sheffield The Octagon – Sun 22nd
Cambridge Corn Exchange – Thu 26th
London Roundhouse – Fri 27th
Southend Cliffs Pavilion – Sat 28th
Norwich The LCR – Sun 29th
APRIL 2026
Brighton Dome – Thu 2nd
Bristol Beacon Hall – Fri 3rd
Birmingham O2 Academy – Sat 4th
Bournemouth O2 Academy – Sun 5th
Margate Hall by the Sea – Thu 9th
Guildford G Live – Fri 10th
Manchester O2 Victoria Warehouse – Sat 11th
Glasgow Barrowland – Thu 16th
Glasgow Barrowland - Fri 17th
Glasgow Barrowland - Sat 18th