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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Entertainment
Bonnie McLaren

Liam Gallagher carries Gary 'Mani' Mounfield's coffin at Stone Roses bassist's funeral

Liam Gallagher helped carry the coffin of Gary "Mani" Mounfield during the funeral for The Stone Roses bassist.

A service for the musician - who died last month at the age of 63 - was held at Manchester Cathedral earlier today.

Leaving the cathedral, Gallagher carried the coffin alongside fellow Stone Roses members Alan “Reni” Wren and John Squire.

Outside the service, I Wanna Be Adored was played repeatedly on loudspeakers to hundreds of fans who wanted to pay their respects.

Also paying their respects at today’s service were Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown and Bobby Gillespie, who he played with in Primal Scream.

Brown told the BBC before the service: “We will celebrate his life like the beautiful human being that he was - he's a brother to me.”

Happy Mondays’ Bez also paid tribute, adding: “We've just got a massive history together, sharing a history like that it's special.

"He's part of the Manchester heritage.”

Paul "Bonehead" Arthurs from Oasis, Mike Joyce from The Smiths, The Jam frontman Paul Weller and the Charlatans’ Tim Burgess also attended the service.

Mani was a Manchester United fan, and footballers David Beckham and Gary Neville also paid their respects.

Flowers reading ‘R Kid’ in the hearse (Peter Byrne/PA Wire)

"R Kid" and "Mani" were written in flowers either side of his coffin as it arrived at the cathedral.

Mounfield passed away last month at his home in Heaton Moor, Stockport on the morning of November 20.

The Manchester Evening News reports the star died peacefully in his sleep of “respiratory issues” linked to a long-standing lung condition, emphysema.

The star is understood to have died at home after collapsing. Family sources say an ambulance was called but he could not be revived.

The news of Mounfield’s passing was first announced by his brother Greg.

“It is with the heaviest of hearts that I have to announce the sad passing of my brother. Gary Mani Mounfield RIP”, he wrote on Facebook.

He added: “Reunited with his beautiful wife Imelda”.

His death comes just two years after his wife, Imelda Mounfield, died from cancer. The couple shared twin boys, Gene and George, who were born in January 2013.

Mounfield was born in Crumpsall in Manchester in 1962. He found fame joining The Stone Roses in the 1980s and was in the band until it disbanded in 1996.

He later joined Primal Scream but in 2011 announced he was leaving the band to reform The Stone Roses.

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