Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder has revealed he had to miss the funeral of Stone Roses bassist Gary 'Mani' Mounfield in December, as he had pneumonia over the Christmas period.
Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder said he was unable to attend Stone Roses legend Gary "Mani" Mounfield's funeral after he caught pneumonia and collapsed.
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He spoke to Jon & Sarah on #BBCBreakfast alongside fellow band member Bezhttps://t.co/GLKUupy6PI pic.twitter.com/YUHnwKb6Dh
The singer from Greater Manchester said he and Black Grape bandmate Paul Leveridge, known as Kermit, caught the inflammatory lung condition around the time their band finished their tour on Saturday, 20 December.
Ryder told BBC Breakfast: "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.
"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."
He added: "In the end, I got antibiotics, and that is like a nuclear bomb going off.
"So that sorted me out quite quick. I've only been out of bed, what, four days?"
When asked if he had been in bed with the illness throughout Christmas, Ryder said: "Yeah, pretty much... It was great, got to see the kids, the missus... Just rotting in bed on my own."
Pneumonia, which is inflammation of the lungs usually caused by an infection, is more widespread in autumn and winter.
Symptoms include pain when breathing, feeling light-headed, and coughing up blood.
Ryder appeared on the breakfast show alongside Happy Mondays star Mark Berry, known professionally as Bez, who was among the mourners at Mounfield's funeral at Manchester Cathedral on Monday, 22 December.
Mounfield died at the age of 63 in November 2025.
Ryder and Bez appeared on the breakfast show to speak about their upcoming tour celebrating the Happy Mondays' 1990 studio album Pills 'N' Thrills and Bellyaches, which starts in March.
The band will play Dublin's Vicar Street on 22 and 23 April and Belfast's Mandela Hall on 24 April.
Bez said: "I can't wait to get on the road."
Ryder was among the guests on the first episode of the new series of The Tommy Tiernan Show last Saturday.
Source: Press Association
