Forming Paris Angels in 1990, Wagstaff became a renowned figure within Manchester’s music scene through his sonic characterisation of amalgamating both indie-rock guitar music with components of the acid house scene. These soundscapes were particularly evident in singles ‘Perfume’ and ‘Scope’, which successfully married the funky side of indie music with traditional dance music.  This time now known as the ‘Madchester’ era would solidify the guitarist’s legacy in music, even granting him a place in Shaun Ryder and Bez’s band Black Grape in 1993, playing on their debut ‘It’s Great When You’re Straight… Yeah’ (1995) and ‘Stupid Stupid Stupid’ (1997), before their disbandment in 1998.

Wagstaff would join forces with the pair again during a revised version of Happy Mondays in 1999, replacing their former-guitarist Mark Day. This reunion would see the band release comeback single ‘The Boys Are Back In Town’, which peaked at Number 24 on the UK Singles Chart, and provide support for Oasis during their 2000 tour.

As of yet, the circumstances surrounding the legendary guitarist’s death have not been revealed. Although it was known that Wagstaff was working on a new project with his long-term partner and Royal Shakespeare Company actor Tamara Smith.

In wake of Wags’ death, a plethora of tributes have been posted online from friends, family, band mates and fans alike.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Bez (@bezmondays)

Bez (otherwise known as Mark Berry), a friend and Happy Mondays and Black Grape bandmate, took to Instagram to post a nostalgic shot of Black Grape alongside the caption: “Mr Paul Wagstaff (Wags), remembering the good times. RIP my friend.”
Later this year, Black Grape will be touring the UK for the 30^th Anniversary of their debut ‘It’s Great When You’re Straight… Yeah’, which has left fans hoping the group will pay tribute to their late-guitarist.  

R.I.P Paul ‘Wags’ Wagstaff guitarist with Manchester bands Paris Angels and of Course Blackgrape .and more recently Happy Mondays . Like asking where the music goes when it stops playing – that Manchester vibe Paul was a part of will always be in ‘the area’… pic.twitter.com/N45ZxuSgKS

— terry christian (@terrychristian) March 22, 2025

Joining tributes, Broadcaster Terry Christian, shared: “R.I.P Paul ‘Wags’ Wagstaff guitarist with Manchester bands Paris Angels and of Course Blackgrape , and more recently Happy Mondays . Like asking where the music goes when it stops playing – that Manchester vibe Paul was a part of will always be in ‘the area'”

The tributes surrounding the passing of Paul Wagstaff, the remarkable guitarist, have shed a light on his sonic and personal legacy as a forever-iconic figure of Manchester’s music scene.

“There’s talk of a new album to come, which I’m really f***ing looking forward to,” Bez told The Sun. “It’s going to be visionary. It’s going to be massive. With all my heart and soul, I want it more than anyone.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Happy Mondays (@happymondaysofficial)

Although there is no information on when fans can expect this album, it would be their first studio outing since ‘Uncle Dysfunktional’ in 2007. That release also came after a barren period of 15 years following 1992’s ‘Yes Please!’, often considered the last in the classic period of the band. Peaking at a disappointing 73 in the UK Album Chart, ‘Uncle Dysfunktional’ received criticism and was described as “directionless,” however it would springboard The Happy Mondays into a festival mainstay. The band has played almost 300 live shows since the album’s release.   

The influences of The Mondays cannot be overstated. Fusing a variety of eclectic genres such as acid house, funk and psychedelic rock, they would come to help define the Madchester sound alongside bands like James and The Stone Roses, influencing them with tracks like ‘Step On‘ and ‘Kinky Afro‘. Further along the musical evolutionary chain, Oasis would emerge, inspired by the sounds of Manchester before them, and would go on to become one of the biggest bands of the 90s. Oasis were signed by Alan McGee, who was also managing the Happy Mondays. 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Gogglebox (@c4gogglebox)

Bez’s comments come at a busy time for both him and Ryder. The two have become mainstream figures thanks to their appearances on Celebrity Gogglebox, becoming fan favourites for their genuine, down-to-earth comments and observations. The pair also starred in a Channel 4 feature where Bez planned a mock funeral for Ryder, with the video reaching nearly a million views. Ryder also remains active with the Happy Mondays’ spiritual successor Black Grape, who will be heading out on tour this year to celebrate 30 years of their debut album ‘It’s Great When You’re Straight… Yeah’.

Meanwhile, Bez and Ryder’s other project, Mantra of the Cosmos—a supergroup featuring Oasis’ Andy Bell and Zak Starkey—has also been making headlines. The band debuted an exclusive vinyl-only single, ‘Domino Bones (Gets Dangerous)’, co-written with Noel Gallagher, during their performances at Liverpool’s Cavern Club. According to Bez, Starkey has played a key role in reigniting their creative spark: “Zak is the driving force behind the creativity. It’s ignited us all and got us all excited again.”

The Happy Mondays are set to take the stage at Forever Now 2025 this coming June, sharing the bill with the likes of Johnny Marr, The The, and recent Rock & Roll Hall of Fame nominee, Billy Idol. 

Whether the new album comes before or after this year’s festival season, Bez has promised “the most magic s**t you’ve ever heard.” Only time will tell if it ranks among their greatest albums, but 2025 promises to be a great year for fans of Bez and Ryder, and their various projects.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Shaun Ryder (@shaunryderx)

Black Grape celebrated the 25th anniversary of the same album in 2021 after the planned celebrations were undone by the COVID-19 pandemic. Originally planned for 2020, the tour was moved to March 2021 before being rescheduled again, and eventually happening in September.  

When it finally happened, the event was just as much about the anniversary of the album as it was about fans finally being able to return to music venues, even if it did require vaccine passports. RGM’s Carl Maloney described the energy between band members Shaun Ryder and Kermit as electric, likening them to “scallywags just let out after being cooped up for 18 months.” ‘It’s Great When You’re Straight…Yeah’ is the band’s most well-known album and makes up most of the material they perform live. Fans attending any of the 11 dates can expect to hear ‘In The Name Of The Father’, ‘Tramazi Parti’, and ‘Kelly’s Heroes’, alongside material from their latest album, ‘Orange Head’, released last year.  

The tour will be supported by Dodgy, another ’90s act best known for hits like ‘Staying Out for the Summer’ and ‘Good Enough’, the latter of which reached No. 4 on the UK charts. The pairing will be a nostalgia trip for fans, transporting many of them back to the peak of Madchester and Britpop.

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Mantra Of The Cosmos (@mantraofthecosmos)

Shaun Ryder and Bez are both currently part of the supergroup Mantra of the Cosmos, which recently played two sold-out shows at Liverpool’s Cavern Club and released a track co-written with Noel Gallagher. Though Bez is no longer an official member of Black Grape, leaving the band in 1998, it wouldn’t be a shock to see him join Ryder and Kermit on stage, armed with a pair of maracas or a tambourine.

Ryder shared the tour poster from his X account as well as a link for tickets. Fans were quick to point out the absence of shows in Leeds and Dublin. There are no shows planned for Northern Ireland or the Republic of Ireland, as was the case in 2021 too, though there was a date in Wales, which also misses out on the 2025 tour. There’s no official word on extra dates yet, but if there is the demand, Black Grape may just add one or two more shows.

Where’s Leeds ?

— craig smith (@SmithCsmiff1974) January 27, 2025

‘It’s Great When You’re Straight…Yeah’ was met with critical acclaim upon its release and debuted at number 1 in the UK Album Chart, knocking off the Supergrass album ‘I Should Coco’. It was praised for its musical variety, which Lollipop Magazine’s Chris Adams compared to The Beatles’ ‘Revolver’.  

Though Black Grape don’t command the same recognition as Ryder and Bez’s previous band, The Happy Mondays, they still have a devoted following, with fans quick to defend the album and heap praise on it. The Happy Mondays were in the news back in December when their backing singer, Rowetta, abruptly left the group.

Comment byu/rusy from discussion invinyl

Interestingly, the album is yet to receive a remaster, and the 30th anniversary would be a prime opportunity for one to surface. Whether they’re a nostalgia act or not, fans of Black Grape will be excited for everything 2025 holds. As long as Shaun Ryder is at the helm, the party shows no signs of slowing down.

Tickets are currently on pre-sale, but will go on general sale on Friday 31 January. They can be bought here.

Fans will see Manchester’s finest, Kermit, and Happy Mondays frontman, Shaun Ryder, return to the music scene as a duo as they hit the road in a few months.  

Ryder, who formed the band Mantra of the Cosmos this year, is seemingly buzzing to perform alongside his pal.  

In a statement, Ryder said: “It’s going to be a wild ride of pure energy, infectious beats, and a whole lot of fun. See you in the front row!” 

Tickets for their tour are available now, but fans need to be quick as the duo will only perform five shows in the UK.  

Other artists and bands are set to make appearances at certain shows. The indie band Marquis Drive will perform at the London venue, whilst hit Inspiral singer Tom Hingley and his band The Kar-Pets will also support the anticipated tour.  

Orange Head, which will be released on 2 November, marks the group’s first album in over six years since their 2017 release Pop Voodoo.  

The album, which will feature a promising mix of sounds such as hip-hop and psychedelic pop, will see the duo go back to their edgy and experimental roots.  

Fans can pre-order the album now, which also will include their hit single, “Milk”.  

“Milk”, which was released in July this year, has over 27,000 streams on Spotify, whilst other single “Pimp Wars” has more than 20,000 on the platform.  

In anticipation for the album, fans can also purchase limited edition vinyl’s and signed albums from the band.

Formed in Manchester in 1993, Black Grape has become a staple in the British music scene. Their 1995 album, It’s Great When Your Straight… Yeah, peaked at number one on the UK charts and has since been certified Platinum for selling over 300,000 units. Hits from that record include “Reverend Black Grape”, “In the Name of the Father”, and “Kelly’s Heroes”, which all peaked in the top 20 of the charts.  

Meanwhile, their 2017 album, Pop Voodoo, peaked at number 15 on the charts. The album was also well received by critics, ranking at number 23 on Louder Than War’s Top 100 Albums of 2017.  

Tour dates  
23/11/23 – The Mill – Birmingham  
24/11 – Albert Hall – Manchester  
30/11 – Tramshed – Cardiff  
01/12 – Electric Ballroom – London  
02/12 – Engine Rooms – Southampton  

Happy Monday and Black Grape members Shaun Ryder and Bez have teamed up with former Oasis and The Who drummer Zak Starkey, and Oasis bassist and Ride guitarist Andy Bell to form the supergroup.

On the chaotic and fun-filled single “Gorilla Guerilla” Ryder’s cries of “Gorilla!” echo over Bez’s energetic maracas, repetitive guitar riffs, and thumping drum beats. Released alongside the hallucinogenic single is a colourful animated music video created by Ryder’s son Olli. Watch the trippy video for “Gorilla Guerilla” below:

Mantra of Cosmos features baggy icon Shaun Ryder on vocals, Welsh musician Andy Bell on guitar, Ringo Starr’s son Zak Starkey on drums, and everyone’s favourite cheeky chappy Bez on percussion.

Ryder revealed the group’s formation to The Sun in early May spilling to the publication that the band had been secretly working on a debut album that would be “coming out very soon”. The 90s star continued, “It doesn’t sound like the Mondays or Black Grape or Oasis or The Who, it’s what we’re doing all together.”

Channel 4 herded together the fantastic four for a TV interview in which Bez revealed, “for the first time ever I’ve actually got maracas solos”! Watch the whole interview here.

In a video shared to the band’s Instagram, when asked who would be in his fantasy supergroup dead or alive, Ryder replied, “John Lennon, Paul McCartney, every member of the Rolling Stones past and present. Sly Stone, the Pistols, the Kinks, both brothers and all the rest of the band. Funkadelic-Parliament! Every member of Parliament!”

The band made their debut live appearance at The Box in London on the 5^th June giving an intimate performance at the venue.

Mantra of The Cosmos will be taking Glastonbury Festival’s Glade area by storm on Sunday 25^th June at 8.20 pm.

Bez and Ryder will also be playing as part of the Happy Mondays later this year. The band will be playing Dreamland in Margate alongside Primal Scream and Crystal Palace Bowl in London with James in August. A month later they will appear at the Rock N Roll Circus festival in Sheffield.

See below for Mantra of the Cosmos UK dates:

25/06/23 – Glastonbury Festival – Glastonbury

Shaun Ryder – joined by Kermit from Black Grape – produced by Paul Oakenfold and Goldie – have debuted the England anthem in preparation for the tournament kick off on Friday 10 June.

Entitled ‘We are England’, it is said to have that unique inspiring sound from the 90s and aims to be an anthem that rivals the success of ‘Three Lions’ by Baddiel and Skinner, and Ian Broudie twenty years ago in 1996.

Ten years ago Embrace released the 2006 ‘World at Your Feet’. The Football Association has not commissioned an official song since then.

Prior to this, the England squad were joined by New Order for their massive anthem ‘World in Motion’ featuring the rap by John Barnes for the Italia 90 World Cup.

After ‘Three Lions’ the only near rival to an anthem was ‘Vindaloo’ by Fat Les for the France 98 World Cup.

So, not a bad line up of bands in the recent history of English football anthems: Happy Mondays’ Shaun Ryder (not forgetting Black Grape), Embrace, The Lightening Seeds (Ian Broudie), and New Order.

Big names are now joined by Manic Street Preachers who have performed their song ‘Together Stronger (C’mon Wales)’ for the Welsh squad (see our article here).

So why has the music industry had to wait twenty years for a notable England anthem? David Baddiel has an answer as he informed the BBC News:

“I can tell you why there isn’t one, and why there hasn’t been one for a while.

And that’s because Three Lions killed off the football anthem quite conclusively. There were a few attempts after 1996 but no-one managed it.

And that’s because it is the best football anthem of all time.

I know I shouldn’t say that, but I’m pretty sure it is. It has been voted that several times.

But I think that’s a shame. It’s a shame it’s been killed off.”

We will leave it for music fans to decide on their favourite England football anthem of all time. Let’s hope ‘We are England’ inspires a future anthem for the 2018 World Cup.