'One of the absolute best': tributes after Stone Roses star dies at 63

Gary "Mani" Mounfield, founding member and bassist of the Stone Roses, whose songs became key to the Madchester scene of the late 80s and early 90s, has died aged 63.

- Laura Snapes

His brother Greg Mounfield posted on Facebook: "It is with the heaviest of hearts that I have to announce the sad passing of my brother."

His Stone Roses bandmate Ian Brown posted on X: "Rest in peace Mani." Tim Burgess of the Charlatans called him "one of the absolute best in every way - such a beautiful friend".

Rough Trade Records called him "the perfect example of how a bassist can be the beating heart of a band".

Mani had recently announced an extensive speaking tour of the UK in which he promised to look back on career moments such as the 1999 Stone Roses gig at Spike Island and their comeback tour in 2012.

Born on 16 November 1962 in Crumpsall in Greater Manchester, Mani attended Xaverian college in Rusholme and left school age 16.

He told i-D magazine in 1996 that he had befriended Brown when they went to deal with "some National Front skinheads in north Manchester who'd been shakin' a lot of me mates up. We've been mates ever since."

Mani formed the Fireside Chaps with John Squire and Andy Couzens in Greater Manchester in the early 1980s. After several name and lineup changes, including taking on Brown as frontman, they became the Stone Roses and played their first gig in October 1984.

They quickly blew up locally, but national success took longer. It was not until the late 1980s that labels started to take notice.