Shaun William George Ryder (born 23 August 1962) is an English singer, songwriter and poet.[1] As lead singer of Happy Mondays, he was a leading figure in the Madchester cultural scene during the late 1980s and early 1990s.[2] In 1993, he formed Black Grape with former Happy Mondays dancer Bez. He was the runner-up on the tenth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!.[3] Ryder collaborated with Gorillaz on "Dare", which peaked at number one on the UK Singles Chart in September 2005, becoming the band's only UK number one single. Ryder is known for his distinctive sprechgesang and lyricism.
Early life
Shaun William George Ryder was born on 23 August 1962[4] in Little Hulton, Lancashire,[5] the son of nurse Linda[6][7] and postman Derek (who would later become Happy Mondays's tour manager).[8] By the age of 13, he had left school to work on a building site.[9]
By the late 1980s, the Happy Mondays were an important part of the Manchester music scene and personified rave culture. Numerous world tours meant the band had international success as well as massive success in their home country. The line-up of the band during this first and most important ten-year phase never changed, and the six original members Shaun Ryder, Paul Ryder, Gary Whelan, Paul Davis, Mark Day, and Mark "Bez" Berry remained a tight unit until the first incarnation came to an end in 1994.[12] The band headlined the Friday night at Glastonbury Festival 1990.[11] In November of that year, Paul McCartney commented in NME: "I saw the Happy Mondays on TV, and they reminded me of the Beatles in their 'Strawberry Fields' phase."[13]
Musically, the band fused indie pop guitars with a rhythmic style that owed much to house music, Krautrock, funk, and northern soul.[14] Much of their music was remixed by popular DJs, emphasising the dance influences even further. In style and dress, they crossed hippy fashion and ideals with 1970s glamour. Sartorially and musically, the band helped to encourage the psychedelic revival associated with acid house.[citation needed]
In 2000, following the Big Day Out Festival in Australia with Happy Mondays, Ryder stayed on in Perth, Western Australia with Pete Carroll, who had a record label called Offworld Sounds. While in Perth he recorded Amateur Night in the Big Top, an album of punk electronica with Carroll, Shane Norton, Stephen Mallinder from Cabaret Voltaire and Lucky Oceans from American country band Asleep at the Wheel.[18]Uncut called it, "exhilarating stuff. Another wildly implausible Ryder comeback" while Ministry of Sound said it was "A remarkable album. The most vitriolic lyrics this side of [Bob] Dylan's 'Ballad of a Thin Man' and Sex Pistols 'EMI'". The album was recorded quickly during a few late night sessions in Carroll's garage studio during an extremely hot Perth summer. The album was subsequently released on Offworld Sounds.
In 2004, Happy Mondays reunited to play a comeback gig called "Get Loaded in the Park" on Clapham Common, with only original members. Two years later they released the single "Playground Superstar", featured in the football film Goal, which was released after Bez had won Celebrity Big Brother.[19] In 2007 Happy Mondays released the studio album, Uncle Dysfunktional.[20] In 2009 he made a cameo appearance as himself in Channel 4 drama Shameless.[21]
Black Grape
In 1993 Ryder launched his new project, Black Grape.[22] Its first release, It's Great When You're Straight...Yeah (1995), topped the British album chart for a week.[23] However, the follow-up studio album, Stupid Stupid Stupid, did not achieve the same critical nor commercial success, and the group broke-up in 1998.[24] The group reformed briefly in 2010,[16] and released a single in 2015, and in August 2017, released Pop Voodoo, their first studio album since 1997.[25][26]
In 2004, Ryder had a voice acting role in the video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in which he played Maccer, a washed-up, masturbation-addicted musician who was planning a major comeback tour.[30]
Ryder wrote a column for the Daily Sport, in which he commented on current events and celebrities.[32] The column was ghostwritten with journalist John Warburton, who would write a book about the Happy Mondays reunion in the late 1990s, and co-credited it to Ryder. He said he "didn't really have anything to do with it at all," explaining that Warburton had approached him to write a biography. Ryder said he was not interested in the idea at the time, but allowed him to accompany the band on tour and document the proceedings.[33][34]
In 2004 he was the subject of Richard Macer's BBC3 documentary Shaun Ryder: The Ecstasy and the Agony.[37] In 2006, he appeared in Shameless (series 6 episode 3) as himself.[38]
In 2013, Ryder hosted the television show Shaun Ryder on UFOs on The History Channel UK.[42] He has a lifelong interest in UFOs and claims that he has personally encountered space aliens,[42] stating that he saw a UFO for the first time in 1978.[9]
In 2016, he appeared on Would I Lie to You?, being asked if he had trained his cat to wink.[43]
In 2017 Ryder appeared on Celebrity Juice as a member of Fearne Cotton's team.[38] The next year he starred in ITV's 100 years younger in 21 days and appeared on Celebrity Mastermind, with the specialist subject of Manchester.
In 2019, Ryder was interviewed on Sam Delaney's News Thing.[38][44] In August 2020, Ryder appeared in BBC Two comedy Mandy created by Diane Morgan in which he portrayed a fictional version of himself.
In 2023, he appeared in I'm a Celebrity... South Africa,[45] but was one of the first celebrities to be sent home after losing a trial in a double eviction on Saturday April 29, 2023.[46]
Personal life
Ryder has six children by four women, including a daughter, Coco, with Oriole, daughter of the singer Donovan.[47]
Ryder's past substance use is well-documented; Kyle O'Sullivan of the Daily Mirror writing in 2022 that "after every gig on [the Happy Mondays' 1990] Pills ’n’ Thrills and Bellyaches tour, Shaun would dive into a cocktail of booze, cocaine, heroin, ecstasy and marijuana".[48] Ryder's heroin addiction lasted around 20 years, ending around 2002, although Ryder has stated that "there's been no damage off [heroin]" and that he never injected the drug, but rather smoked it, and saying he overcame it by taking up cycling.[49][9][50][51] Ryder also used crack cocaine and methamphetamine, to which he attributes the loss of his teeth.[50] Ryder stated in January 2024 that he hasn't used hard drugs since the early 2000s, and no longer keeps alcohol in his home, only drinking when out.[52]
Ryder contested contracts he drew up with his Black Grape management team, compiled in 1993. Following his dismissal of the company, they sued him for £160,000. The income from his £30,000 a year Daily Sport column went solely to cover his costs. His appearance on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (2010) and a £130,000 book deal financed Ryder out of the contract.[49]
Ryder was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia later in life, saying in the 60s and 70s there was "no such thing as learning difficulties".[53] "When I was at school they didn't know about ADHD, there were just four sets, one being the brightest and four being crowd control"... so "for the first 40-something years of my life I didn't know I had it [ADHD]".[54]
In 2021 he took part in Channel 4's Stand Up and Deliver; mentored by Jason Manford, he developed his own stand-up set. Manford explained in an interview “Shaun's got severe ADHD, so remembering things, collecting information and taking on new thoughts, it's been a real challenge."[54]
Ryder took part in Channel 4's Fame in the Family; where Ryder discovered three long lost relatives, Tracey and James had the most direct blood connection, both second cousins.[55]
^"Shaun Ryder". Artist. Last.fm Ltd. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
^Miranda Sawyer (25 February 2007). "It's great when you're straight"(News article). The Observer. 2012 Guardian News and Media Limited. Retrieved 5 May 2012.
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