Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder has revealed he was unable to attend the funeral of Stone Roses bassist Gary 'Mani' Mounfield after contracting pneumonia. The 62-year-old singer said he and Black Grape bandmate Paul Leveridge, known as Kermit, fell ill around the time their tour ended on 20 December.
Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Ryder explained: 'I got pneumonia. We was on tour with Black Grape and me and Kermit ended up with pneumonia. So basically, (I) had to... throw everything I could down me, you know, every sort of painkiller and everything else, just to get through it. When I got back, I couldn't even go to the funeral.'
He added: 'I got back the day before Mani's funeral and collapsed, and so I couldn't even go. Like I say, you have to get the job done, don't you? On the tour, we're old school.' Ryder said antibiotics 'sorted me out quite quick' and that he had been bedridden for much of the Christmas period.
Mounfield, an original member of the Stone Roses, died at the age of 63 in November 2025. His funeral was held at Manchester Cathedral on 22 December, with Happy Mondays star Bez among the mourners. Ryder and Bez appeared on BBC Breakfast to promote their upcoming tour celebrating 35 years of the album 'Pills 'N' Thrills And Bellyaches', which begins in March.
