My hero...R.I.P RKid

BASS player Gary 'Mani' Mounfield was the beating heart of The Stone Roses - a band that defined a generation.

- BY MARK JEFFERIES Showbiz Editor

The soaring melodies of their debut album, coupled with their bucket hat and flares image, ushered in the 1990s, kickstarted the Madchester music scene and paved the way for Britpop and Oasis.

And Liam Gallagher was among the many musicians who paid tribute yesterday after Mani died suddenly, aged 63, writing: "In total shock and absolutely devastated on hearing the news about Mani.

"My hero RIP RKid. LG." Just last month Mani, whose wife Imelda died from cancer two years ago, revealed he was itching to get back into music.

And music had certainly missed him. The Roses' eponymous 1989 album remains one of the greatest debuts in rock history.

And from the infectious bassline on the opening track I Wanna Be Adored to the final jangling chords of I Am the Resurrection, Mani's playing is front and centre.

DEVASTATED

Yesterday Mani's brother Greg Mounfield broke the news, saying: "It is with the heaviest of hearts that I have to announce the sad passing of my brother."

His nephew said Mani would be "reunited in heaven" with Imelda.

Stone Roses singer Ian Brown posted: "Rest in peace Manix" Mani was born in November 1962 in Crumpsall, an outer suburb of Manchester, and went to Xaverian College in Rusholme.

He left school at 16 and formed the band the Fireside Chaps with future Roses' lead guitarist John Squire and Andy Couzens.