I am the resurrection: Stone Roses reform to ‘take on the world’

It wasn’t much of a secret after various outlets got wind of The Stone Roses reunionlast week, but now it is official: Ian Brown, John Squire, Mani (Gary Mounfield) and Reni (Alan Wren) will reform for two gigs in their home town of Manchester before embarking on a world tour next year.

At a press conference in London – which many had speculated would be the scene for the ‘Madchester’ band’s comeback announcement – they confirmed the performances at Heaton Park in Manchester on 29 and 30 June next year.

Tickets for the original dates go on sale this Friday.

The band – who only released two albums during a 13-year career, producing iconic hits like I Wanna Be Adored, Waterfall, Love Spread and I Am The Resurrection – said this afternoon that they had put their differences aside and hoped to release new material soon. After the original homecoming concerts, they will embark on an “extensive” world tour.

Previous suggestions that they were set to reform have been rubbished, with Squire rebutting original claims that he and Brown had settled their differences .

But the band said today it was at the funeral of Mani’s mother that the situation ‘changed’ and led to practices in the summer in anticipation of a reunion tour.

Squire said: “When me and Ian met by chance it changed everything. In some ways it felt like 15 years ago was yesterday.”

He added: “I just couldn’t see it happening and I resented the fact that people were trying to force it on me.

“Everything changed when me and Ian started seeing each other again. It was surreal. We went from crying, laughing about the old days, to writing songs in a heartbeat.

“In some ways, it’s a friendship that defines us both - and it needed fixing.”

Brown said: “Our plan is to take on the world.”

There have been reports that Brown, who has been successful as a solo artist, is the midst of an expensive divorce.

He said yesterday : “We’re going to start off in our home town, Manchester, with two gigs in Heaton Park on June 29 and 30 and after that we’re going to take it round the world.”

Drummer Reni, who dropped out of the music world after leaving the band in 1995, joked: “If anyone buys a ticket.”

“It’s not a trip down memory lane. We are doing new songs,” Brown said.

Mani, who joined Scots-band Primal Scream after the Stone Roses split in 1996, said: “There’s something magical happens when us four are in a room together. You can’t put your finger on it. It’s just so beautiful to get hold of it again. Missed it, you know.”

The band was fondly remembered for a self-titled first album, released in 1989, which is widely seen as one of the greatest debuts of all time. But it took five years to provide a follow-up and tensions led first to Reni, then Squire, quitting in 1995.

Although Brown and Mani attempted to continue without the others, the band’s shows ended after an disastrous performance at Reading Festival in 1996.

Squire added that he had resented attempts to get the band back together at first, saying: “I just couldn’t see it happening and I resented the fact that people were trying to force it on me.

“Everything changed when me and Ian started seeing each other again. It was surreal. We went from crying, laughing about the old days, to writing songs in a heartbeat.

“In some ways, it’s a friendship that defines us both - and it needed fixing.”