Ian Brown honours “brother” Mani at Manchester funeral, while Bobby Gillespie says bass icon will “will always live forever in my soul and mind”

Stone Roses‘ Ian Brown and Primal Scream‘s Bobby Gillespie are among those honouring their former bandmate, bassist Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield, at his funeral today (December 22).

• READ MORE: Gary “Mani” Mounfield, 1962-2025: baggy bass hero whose melodies made the Madchester movement

The Manchester music icon passed away on November 20 at the age of 63, with his family later confirming that he died peacefully in his sleep from “respiratory issues” linked to the long-standing lung condition emphysema.

He was laid to rest with a funeral at Manchester Cathedral today (December 22), with many of his friends and bandmates in attendance, including Liam Gallagher, Ian Brown,  John Squire, Reni, Bobby Gillespie, Bez, Paul Weller, Mike Joyce, Guy Garvey, Peter Hook, Tim Burgess and Paul ‘Bonehead’ Arthurs. Manchester United legends David Beckham and Gary Neville were also present.

At the ceremony, Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown, Mani’s former bandmate, spoke, calling the late bassist “a brother”.

“Mani was like a brother to me, a musical comrade,” he told the congregation. “Beautiful soul and spirit. Mani was able to laugh his way through any darkness. He was the life and soul of any room he was in.”

Rest in Peace Mani ❤️ pic.twitter.com/0YKzYuTLSe

— The Stone Roses 🍋🍋🍋 (@StoneRoses_News) December 22, 2025

He also suggested a campaign to have a 50ft gold statue of Mani enshrined in Manchester, which led to applause from the congregation.

“Mani wouldn’t want us to be broken-hearted, but we are,” Brown added.

Primal Scream singer Bobby Gillespie also spoke, saying: “Mani’s warm and welcoming manner, treating me like an equal, made me feel like a million dollars, and I’ll never forget that. No-one was too important to escape his laser-eye ability to cut the pretentious and self-important down to size, myself included.”

“His ability to make laughter out of any situation was our great value wherever we were in the world,” Gillespie added. Comparing his aura to that of Manchester United legend Eric Cantona, he said: “Mani’s not dead, he’s just gone. He will always live forever in my soul and mind.”

Ahead of the ceremony, Happy Mondays’ Bez told reporters that Mani will be “truly missed” and that he was “a proper one of the boys, everyone loved him,” per BBC News.

“We’ve just got a massive history together, sharing a history like that it’s special” he added. “He’s part of the Manchester heritage”.

As the service ended, Liam Gallagher and Stone Roses members Reni and John Squire were among those to carry the coffin out of the cathedral.

Manchester Evening News reported that a woman appeared to be detained by police at the funeral. She was reportedly handcuffed outside the Cathedral, but the circumstances are not yet clear.

We’ve just been out to pay our respects to Mani from the Stone Roses / Primal Scream as his funeral cortege passed though Heaton Moor.

What I didn’t expect was that loads of people on scooters turned up, to ride with him on his last journey, which I found incredibly moving. pic.twitter.com/1KkHVtvmuM

— Drew Savage (@DrewSavageSport) December 22, 2025

Last week, Mani’s brother Greg told fans that the musician died “peacefully at his home in Heaton Moor” in Greater Manchester. He then went on to describe him as a “beloved husband to the late Imelda [and] the much loved father to George, Gene and Joe”, as well as “a loved son-in-law, nephew, cousin and good friend to many.”

In a tribute to Mani, NME described how the late musician “held a rare place in the world of bass heroes” and “defined a scene with some of the most infectious and hypnotic basslines ever recorded.”

“Both weighty and melodic, Mani’s bewitching basslines became the bedrock and, often, the driving force of The Roses’ breakthrough tracks ‘Elephant Stone’, ‘Made Of Stone’ and ‘She Bangs The Drums’, and underpinned the band’s low-slung funk development on ‘Fools Gold’ – arguably a four-minute encapsulation of the entire late-’80s dance rock scene,” it read.

Tributes poured in after the news of Mani’s death was shared. My Bloody Valentine dedicated their first tour in seven years to him, Oasis played ‘Live Forever’ in his honour, and Richard Ashcroft played a cover of ‘She Bangs The Drums’.

More recently, Primal Scream frontman Bobby Gillespie recalled when he and Mani met Joey Ramone, describing it as “like a scene from a movie”, and former New Order and Joy Division bassist Peter Hook – who worked with Mani in Freebass – described how “from a bass-playing point of view, he was the best”.