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For the Canadian radio broadcaster, see Ian Brown (journalist); For the Australian swimmer, see Ian Brown (swimmer)

Ian Brown
Ian Brown in 2004
Background information
Born	February 20, 1963
Origin	Warrington, England
Genre(s)	Britpop Alternative rock
Occupation(s)	Vocalist, Musician
Instrument(s)	Vocals, Drums, Keyboard
Label(s)	Polydor Interscope
Associated acts	The Stone Roses
Website	ianbrown.co.uk

Ian Brown (born February 20, 1963) is an English musician and former lead singer of the indie rock band The Stone Roses and is held in high regard among music fans across the UK for his work with the group. Since the band's acrimonious and prolonged break up in 1996, Brown has released four solo albums to critical acclaim across Britain. He has appeared on several club tours and has performed at the Glastonbury Festival three times since 1998.

In 2005 Brown designed a pair of Adidas Superstar trainers as part of the product's 35th anniversary promotion for a limited run of 5000 pairs. This was part of Adidas' 'Superstar' campaign, which included other musician-cum-designers like Run DMC, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Underworld. ^[1]

Contents 1 Early life 2 Musical career 3 Relationship with John Squire 4 Personal life 5 Discography 5.1 Albums 5.2 Remixes 5.3 Compilations 5.4 Singles 6 Sound samples 7 External links

Brown was born in Warrington, Cheshire in 1963.

His father George was a joiner and his mother Jean worked in a paper factory. Brown's family moved when he was young and he grew up in Timperley, South Manchester as a karate-obsessed admirer of Muhammed Ali, George Best and Bruce Lee.

His active interest in music was inspired by the original punk bands, specificially the Sex Pistols but also the likes of Angelic Upstarts and The Clash (he and original Stone Roses bassist Pete Garner attended the recording of the single "Bankrobber" in Manchester).

He shared his musical interests with friend John Squire who lived on the same street, the pair attending northern soul 'all-nighters' across the north of England in the late 70s and early 80s as the scene faded. Brown joined Squire's band The Patrol on bass before it eveolved into Garage Flower and then The Stone Roses in 1984. Around this time, Brown met one of his idols, soul-legend Geno Washington, who told him: 'You're a star. You're an actor. Be a singer.'

Allegedly nicknamed "King Monkey" by Dodgy's drummer Mathew Priest, Brown is noted for his wispy and raspy/throaty singing style. He is not the most technically sound singer; some critics have compared his delivery to "a man shouting into a bucket". However, others have described his voice as pure and angelic based on his singing on his debut album with The Stone Roses. It is his delivery of the lyrics, enormous charisma and stage presence that make him stand out.

In his solo career, Brown has worked with many notable musicians including UNKLE (providing vocals to the instrumental "Unreal", which was released as "Be There") and Oasis' Noel Gallagher. Previously, he acted as a mentor to the up-and-coming British band, South.

Brown appeared in a cameo role in the movie adaptation of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. The singer became good friends with the movie's Mexican director Alfonso Cuarón, who has personally promised to direct one of Brown's future music videos. Brown took only the standard extras fee of £200 for appearing in the film.

In 2002, Q magazine named Ian Brown in their list of the "50 Bands To See Before You Die", although this was part of a sub-list of "5 Bands That Could Go Either Way".

Brown has had several run-ins with the law. In 1998, he was sentenced to 4 months in jail for air rage, after threatening a stewardess, offering to cut her hands off on a flight. This resulted in spate of (presumably) ironic "Free Ian Brown" graffiti in and around Manchester. In 2005, he was arrested for assault during a San Francisco gig, but no charges were brought.

He undertook a sell out UK tour in 2005, including selling out the 25,000 capacity Manchester Evening News Arena on 3rd December 2005, and visited Australia (Falls Festival, Southbound Festival, Sydney, Brisbane and Melbourne) in 2006.

Since the demise of the Roses, Brown has stayed in touch with some of the former members. He has performed with bassist Mani and remains friends with drummer Reni. Both Reni and Mani contributed to the track "Can't See Me" on Brown's debut album "Unfinished Monkey Business". Although Reni maintains that this was in fact a drum machine and not his good self.

Brown has also worked with Aziz Ibrahim (who regularly acts as the support act at Brown's gigs), Nigel Ippinson and Robbie Maddix, who all performed with the Roses on their ill-fated 1996 summer tour which included the Festival Internacional de Benicàssim in Spain and the now infamous Reading Festival performance.

In the 2006 NME awards, Brown was presented with the "Godlike Genius" award. He said that as well as his work with the Stone Roses, he considered the track "F.E.A.R." to be one of his moments of genius.

In October 2006 Brown made a surprising move to headline the Rockit Hong Kong Music Festival held outdoors in Victoria Park HK. During the 2 day event and prior to his appearance on stage he strolled around anonymously and mingled with members of the crowd. His eventual stage performance was hailed by the South China Morning Post and other local newspapers as a great success.

According to his Jewish friend Nimrod Levy, Brown will never perform in Israel because "Palestine is the greatest prisoner in this world".^{[citation needed]}

Notably Brown has had no contact with his former song writing partner and childhood best friend John Squire. Brown's key reason for the band not reforming is his lack of contact with Squire along with Squire's cocaine abuse and their differing musical tastes. In a 2004 interview with Q magazine, Squire went as far as branding Brown as a "tuneless knob", although this was taken out of context by some members of the press as it referred to Brown during the recording of the Stone Roses' second album, Second Coming due to his large in-take of cannabis.

Squire has once contacted Brown since the demise of the Roses. When Brown was in jail before Christmas 1998 for air rage, Squire sent Brown a box of Maltesers (as this was the gift that they traditionally exchanged in their youth at Christmas) with a note reading "I Still Love You". Whilst Brown was released just before Christmas and did not directly contact Squire afterwards, he is said to have been touched by the gesture.

In September 2005 Ian appeared to rule out a Stone Roses reunion saying "there's more chance of me reforming the Happy Mondays than the Roses". Happy Mondays in fact have reformed, but yet Brown appears pessimistic about a likelihood of any reunion.

Brown and his Mexican wife Fabiola Quiroz Brown have one son, Emilio. The family currently resides in Holland Park, London and also have a house in Lymm, near Warrington in Cheshire. He has two older sons, Frankie and Casey from a previous relationship.

Brown has been a fan of Manchester United football club since boyhood. Brown now has a season ticket at Old Trafford in the K stand. He is known to be a fan of Warrington Wolves.

In 1990 claimed he was an anti-royalist. Also, it is claimed he became Muslim and now believes in Islam. This is confirmed by the singer in an interview given to a Turkish magazine (Yeni Aktüel). Also, he has contacts with Islamist IBDA ideology and the hand-sign he did in the photo is the sign of this ideology.

Chart positions listed are for the UK, he has not charted in the US.

Chart positions for the United Kingdom.

1. Unfinished Monkey Business (1998) #4

2. Golden Greats (1999) #14

3. Music Of The Spheres (2001) #3

4. Solarized (2004) #7

- Remixes Of The Spheres (2002) #87

- The Greatest (2005) #5

• "My Star" (1998) #5
• "Corpses in their Mouths" (1998) #14
• "Can't See Me" (1998) #21
• "Be There (UNKLE feat. Ian Brown)" (1999) #8
• "Love Like a Fountain" (1999) #23
• "Dolphins Were Monkeys" (2000) #5
• "Golden Gaze" (2000) #29
• "Thriller/Billie Jean" (2000)
• "F.E.A.R." (2001) #13
• "Whispers" (2002) #33
• "Keep What Ya Got" (2004) #18
• "Reign (UNKLE feat. Ian Brown)" (2004) #40
• "Time Is My Everything" (2005) #15
• "All Ablaze" (2005) #20

• Download sample of Brown covering Bob Marley's "Redemption Song"
• compilation of several 20-30 second segments covering the majority of the songs on the album Unfinished Monkey Business. Filesize: 4.06mb, filetype: .ogg

• Official site
• Ian Brown Whispers
• Ian Brown Fans Forum
• This Is The Daybreak
• Complete Ian Brown - last update 2002

The Stone Roses
Ian Brown - John Squire - Mani - Reni
Discography
Albums: The Stone Roses - Second Coming
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Madchester - Britpop - John Leckie - The Seahorses