Former Stone Roses guitarist John Squire has issued an emphatic response to suggestions his old band might be reforming this summer.
The Daily Mirror ran an ‘exclusive’ earlier this week, claiming that 21 live shows were scheduled for the coming months after Squire and vocalist Ian Brown settled the grievances that have kept the band apart since their split in 1996.
The guitarist quashed that speculation today, however, by opening up Microsoft Paint and scrawling the message “I have no desire whatsoever to desecrate the grave of seminal Manchester pop group The Stone Roses (18.3.09)” over a jpg of one of his own artworks.
The piece, named ‘Civilian’, will be on show at his latest solo exhibition, which will run from July to September at a gallery in Oldham.
Squire’s message follows earlier denials from Ian Brown’s current label Fiction/Polydor and drummer Reni, who told journalists at Manchester Confidential that he hasn’t spoken to Brown for at least two years.
The rumours seem mostly to be idle conjecture based around the forthcoming 20th anniversary of the band’s eponymous debut album.
Stone Roses biographer and Quietus scribe John Robb did offer some hope to pining fans, however, as he disclosed details of a recent conversation with former bassist Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield, who now plays with Primal Scream.
"I spoke to Mani three days ago," said Robb. "He’s saying he’d love to get the Roses back together again – so either it’s an elaborate triple bluff or it’s just wishful thinking."
