- For the Canadian radio broadcaster, see Ian Brown (journalist); For
the Australian
swimmer, see Ian Brown (swimmer)
| Ian Brown |
Ian
Brown, 2006 photo by dz studios
|
| Background information |
| Birth name |
Ian George Brown |
| Also known as |
King Monkey |
| Born |
February 20, 1963 |
| Origin |
Warrington, England |
| Genre(s) |
Britpop
Alternative rock |
| Occupation(s) |
Vocalist, Musician |
| Instrument(s) |
Vocals, Drums,
Keyboard, Bass |
| Years active |
1984-present |
| Label(s) |
Polydor
Interscope |
Associated
acts |
The
Stone Roses |
| Website |
ianbrown.co.uk |
Ian George Brown (born February
20, 1963) is
an English
musician and former lead singer of the indie rock/Manchester
band The Stone Roses. He is
held in high regard by music fans across the UK
for his work with the group as well as his work 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.
|
Contents
- 1 Early
life
- 2 Musical
career
- 3 Relationship
with John Squire
- 4 Personal
life
- 5 Trivia
- 6 Discography
- 6.1 Albums
- 6.2 Remixes
- 6.3 Compilations
- 6.4 Singles
- 7 Sound
samples
- 8 External
links
|
Early life
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,
Greater Manchester, along with his brother and sister, as a
karate-obsessed admirer of Muhammed Ali, George
Best and Bruce
Lee.
His active interest in music was inspired by the originators
of punk, 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). [1]
He shared his musical interests with friend John
Squire, who lived on the same street; the pair attended 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 evolved into Garage Flower, whilst Jason Livesey was playing lead guitar
at the time; they became 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."
Musical career
Allegedly nicknamed "King Monkey" by Dodgy's
drummer Mathew Priest, Brown is noted for his
wispy, raspy, and 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 sings the vocals on the "Reign" single, released in
2004) and Oasis' Noel Gallagher. Previously,
he acted as a mentor to the up-and-coming British band, South.
Brown as a Wizard in Harry
Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
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.
Most of his sentence was served at Strangeways gaol. In an interview
with Dave Haslam he claimed "I saw more drugs in a couple of months in
Strangeways than in the whole of the rest of my lifetime." [2]
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 16,000 capacity
Manchester Evening
News Arena on 3 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 two-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.
Relationship with John Squire
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.
In June 2007 John Squire said he wouldn't reform the Roses
even if Ian Brown phoned him up personally. [3]
Personal life
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 on 'K stand'. At most games He gets a lot of attention
from fans, requesting pictures, all of which he appears to be fine
with. He is known to be a fan of Warrington
Wolves.
In 1990, claimed he was an anti-royalist, backed up by the
lyrics of Elizabeth My Dear by The Stone Roses. Also, it is claimed he
became Muslim while in prison in 1998 to take advantage of the better
halal meals 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.
Trivia
His favourite album of all time is Marvin Gaye's "What's Going
On".
The only superstition Brown claims to have is that he will
never sing with money in his pockets.
He is currently working on his next album titled 'The World Is
Yours' and is set for release in mid-September. Two songs on the album
feature Irish singer Sinead O'Connor and David
Bowie
Discography
Albums
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
- Remixes Of The Spheres
(2002) #87
Compilations
- The Greatest
(2005) #5
Singles
- "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
- "Illegal Attacks" (17/9/2007)
Sound samples
- 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
External links
