Happy Mondays vocalist Shaun Ryder has reflected on what helped bring the Manchester group together in the mid-1980s, claiming the original band members are all neurodiverse.
The original six-piece line-up featured Ryder, his brother Paul, the UK’s most famous maracas player, Mark “Bez” Berry, guitarist Mark Day, keyboardist Paul Davis and Gaz Wheelan on drums.
Ryder, now 63, was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in his fifties, and in a new interview, he mused: “When you are neurodiverse, you attract other people who are.”
“I would have said at the time we were all f***ed-up loonies,” he tells The Guardian, adding that Bez in particular has denied being neurodiverse.
“Mate, you are,” he continued. “The same with all of them. None of them have been tested and gone through the thing, but they are. All of them.”
When contacted by The Independent via his representative, Bez said: “Neurodiverse? I don’t even know what that is, I don’t think I’ve got it. I’ve definitely got body dysmorphia though. I think I’m really tall, but I’m not.”
Turning his attention to his brother Paul, who died in 2022 aged 58, having never received a diagnosis, Ryder added: “The difference between me and Our Kid, was that he didn’t have the H in ADHD, the hyperactive bit, so he just came across as lazy. Wouldn’t get out of bed. Always going for a nap. Like Brian the snail.”
Shaun added that some of his six children have received diagnoses, with his two youngest children being “picked up young because their mum worked in special needs”.
“They basically said: ‘Bring Dad in.’” he explained. “One of them’s ADD and is autistic, and the other is ADHD, and also autistic. Pearl is just like Our Kid, and Lulu, who’s ADHD, is just me in knickers.”
Neurodiversity is an umbrella term used to explain how our brains naturally process information differently, and common neurodivergent conditions include ADHD, autism and dyslexia. The NHS estimates that one in seven of us are neurodivergent.
Happy Mondays signed to Factory Records in 1985 and became key figures in the ‘Madchester’ scene, which merged indie and rock music with dance and acid house.
Having headlined Glastonbury in 1990, the band disbanded in 1993 but have reunited multiple times over the years and are this summer set to hit the road to celebrate the 35th anniversary of their third album, the platinum-selling Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches.
Ryder has penned multiple autobiographies over the years and his latest, 24 Hour Party People, is billed as a “jaw-dropping, side-splitting, mind-bending memoir of madness, music and mayhem”.
Alfie Boe pays tribute to late Stone Roses bassist Mani in new song
Labrinth is disillusioned with the music industry. Clearly, he’s not alone
Kid Rock reacts to Conan O’Brien’s Oscars diss over alternate halftime show
Steven Knight shares update on his Oasis documentary
Harry Styles scores biggest global debut of his career with new album
