What Happened to The Happy Mondays?‍

Shaun Morgan (Shaun Ryder)

The man who fronted the band on all their best-known songs was Shaun Ryder. Ryder is a somewhat controversial figure in British culture, particularly due to his frequent brushes with the law over drug-related offenses. Ryder was imprisoned during The Happy Mondays’ initial success, and upon his release, he struggled to stay clean and focused on music. He eventually became addicted again and was released on parole for drugs in 1994. In the following years, he attempted to remain clean but struggled. He attempted various comebacks in music, finally releasing a solo album in 2011 titled “ Black Swan.” While he has attempted to remain in the public eye and attempted several comebacks, he has not had a Top 40 hit in the UK since his solo career began in 1995. He currently resides in the north of England and is married with two children. He is an ambassador for the charity Addaction, which works to help people with drug and alcohol problems.

Paul Ryder

Paul Ryder, the bassist for The Happy Mondays, also found success in a solo career after his time with the band. He released a solo album titled “Full Frequency” in 2000, which featured his brother on vocals. The album was a critical success and was nominated for a Mercury Prize, one of the most prestigious awards in British music. Paul Ryder also toured with his brother’s band Black Grape, along with other former Mondays members. However, both Ryder and his brother’s solo careers have been sporadic and unfocused. Their most recent albums have been released in 2014 and 2016, respectively.

Mark Day

Mark Day was the drummer for the group and was also their most consistent songwriter. His contributions to their early work were far more significant than Shaun or Bez’s contributions. Bez has admitted that he only wrote lyrics for one song in the entire history of The Happy Mondays. Day has been relatively quiet since the Happy Mondays split. He has been working in music and has played with other bands, but has not released any music under his own name since the 1990s.

Paul Davis

Paul Davis was a guitarist for the band, but he was largely overshadowed by his superior instrumentation colleagues. He did not release any solo work of note, and he did not enjoy a solo career. He generally leads a quiet life outside of The Happy Mondays, and he has only been in the news once since their breakup, in a 2008 interview in which he said that he was unhappy with his time in the band. Davis was a member of the band until they disbanded in 1992. He was not with the band during the recording of their final album “Yes Please!” He is also the only member of The Happy Mondays who did not receive a formal solo record deal after their breakup.

Bez

The most recognizable member of The Happy Mondays may be Bez. Bez is a baggy-clad dancer who was the band’s “iconic dancer.” Bez was not a member of the band, but he appeared in almost every one of their music videos and was the figurehead of their dance culture. After The Happy Mondays’ split, Bez released a new album and appeared on various TV shows as a guest. However, he has been relatively quiet since then. He has not released an album since 2002, and he has mainly been involved in charity work, including fundraisers for the families of those who have been murdered. Bez is now the owner of a pub in Manchester and has been in a relationship with the former English reality star Dawn Ward since 2008.

Guitarist Clegg – What Happened to him?

The last member of the band that we will discuss is guitarist Paul Clegg. Clegg was a member of The Happy Mondays for their entire run, but he did not release any solo work after the band broke up. Instead, he became a producer, working on projects by artists like Amy Winehouse and Sugababes. He was nominated for a Grammy Award for his work on Winehouse’s “Back to Black” album. He also had a brief relationship with Winehouse, with whom he spent some time in the Caribbean before her death. He currently acts as a producer and engineer and has worked with the likes of Ed Sheeran, Clean Bandit, and Mark Ronson.