Shaun Ryder

Early life and youth

Born and raised in Manchester, England, Ryder left school unable to read, working on a building site by the age of 13. He claims to have seen a UFO for the first time in 1978.

Happy Mondays

As the singer for Happy Mondays, Ryder was known for "often witty lyrics". Tony Wilson compared Ryder's lyrics to the work of W.B. Yeats. His distinctive vocal style has been described as a form of Sprechgesang. Ryder's struggle with drugs led to the break-up of Happy Mondays in 1992. The film 24 Hour Party People featured the (semi-fictional) story of Shaun Ryder's youth and the life of Happy Mondays whilst signed with Factory Records in the late '80s and early '90s. In the film Ryder is portrayed by Danny Cunningham.

Ryder has taken part in two reformations of Happy Mondays (1999–2000 and 2004–present) and released a solo album, Amateur Night in the Big Top, to a mixed critical reception. He was involved in litigation with former Black Grape management, which he eventually lost.

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 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. 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 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 the only original members being Bez, Shaun Ryder and Gaz Whelan. Two years later they released the single "Playground Superstar", used in the football film Goal, which was released after Bez had won Celebrity Big Brother.

In 2007, Happy Mondays produced another album, Uncle Dysfunktional. In 2009 he made a cameo appearance (Ryder later revealed that it was also a non-speaking role) as himself in Channel 4 drama Shameless.

Black Grape

Ryder returned to the spotlight in 1995 with his new project, Black Grape, an immediate short-term success whose first release, It's Great When You're Straight... Yeah, topped the British album chart for a week. However, the follow-up album, Stupid Stupid Stupid, did not achieve the same critical or commercial success, and the group split in 1998. The group reformed briefly in 2010, and released a single in 2015. On 4 August 2017, the group released Pop Voodoo, their first full album since 1998.

Musical collaborations

Ryder collaborated with Intastella in 1993.

In 1996, he collaborated with Jerry Harrison, Tina Weymouth and Chris Frantz on No Talking, Just Head.

Ryder appeared on British tenor Russell Watson's 2001 debut album The Voice, lending his vocals to a cover version of the Freddie Mercury and Montserrat Caballé song "Barcelona". Watson claimed on Never Mind the Buzzcocks that he recorded some of Ryder's vocals himself.

In 2004, Ryder landed the job of a voice actor in Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas in which he played Maccer, a washed-up, self-abusing musician who was planning a major comeback tour in 1992.

Ryder appeared in Peter Kay's "Is This the Way to Amarillo?" charity music video in 2005.

Also in 2005, he collaborated with Gorillaz on "DARE", a song on their Demon Days album. In the music video, he is featured as a large disembodied head kept alive through a series of tubes and electronic wires, living in animated band member Noodle's closet. Chris Evans stated at the 2006 Brit Awards that the song was originally called "It's There", but was changed as Ryder's thick Mancunian accent made him pronounce the word "there" as "dare".

In November 2011, he played saxophone onstage at the Barbican in York as a special guest in Jools Holland's Rhythm and Blues Orchestra for the Sky television series First Love. He played on "Tuxedo Junction" by Glenn Miller after six weeks' tuition by jazz musician Soweto Kinch.

Solo

In 2010, he supported The Charlatans on a UK tour, as well as one off headline show at the Assembly, Leamington Spa.

Writing

Ryder wrote a column for The Daily Sport, in which he commented on current events and celebrities. It was in this column that Ryder announced his intention to reform Happy Mondays before even making any fellow former members aware of this. He would state the height of a famous person, instead of their age, as is standard in the media (i.e. "Jeremy Irons [6'2"]", instead of "Jeremy Irons [64]").

In 2011, he published his autobiography, Twisting My Melon. It was optioned by Granada Television and writer Danny Brocklehurst has been enlisted to write the screenplay.

Television

Ryder was a contestant on the tenth series of ITV's reality game show I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2010, where he finished second behind Stacey Solomon.

In January 2011, Ryder appeared on the first series of the ITV programme That Sunday Night Show, and again on the second series in September 2011.

He collaborated with fellow I'm a Celebrity contestant Stacey Solomon at the 2011 National Television Awards.

In 2013, Ryder hosted the television show Shaun Ryder on UFOs on The History Channel UK. Ryder reveals a lifelong interest in UFOs and that he has personally encountered space aliens, stating, "It's not that I want to believe – it's impossible not to."

Since 2015, Ryder has appeared four times on the panel of RT UK's News Thing.

Personal life

Ryder has six children. For some time he was addicted to heroin, saying he overcame it through cycling.

Discography

Happy Mondays

Black Grape

Solo

Compilation

Videography

Happy Mondays

Black Grape

Solo

Awards