Stone Roses' first bassist Pete Garner, dead at 61, honored by Ian Brown

Ian Brown has said farewell to the bassist who appeared on the Stone Roses’ debut AA-side single ‘So Young’. The musician passed away aged 61, encouraging a nostalgic wave of tributes across social media. Pete Garner was part of the original band and aided in developing the music that would define the group.

The cause of death was hinted at by Aziz Ibrahim (in the photo), previous Stone Roses member who went to the same high school as Garner; and it seems he lost a battle to cancer. He wrote on X: "Pete Garner #bassplayer & artist. Original Bass man for #thestoneroses #stoneroses has sadly passed on due to cancer.” The cause of death has not been confirmed.

Ian Brown, frontman to Stone Roses, shared on X that Pete was ‘off the scale nice, an old skool nice that ya just dont get no more! He got that from his lovely Mum! GOD Bless Pete RiP X’

Ian Brown also said that ‘Few loved music as much as Pete he been bathing in music since Anarchy in the Uk came out that i can vouch for’. It’s no wonder he would go on to form a band that would be in the music history books.

But before Stone Roses success, Pete Garner worked in Paperchase, a stationary store. He really wanted the job and got it. It was a temporary scheme to put young people into work and, when the six months was up, he went to work in the local record shop, as thestoneroses.co.uk recounts.

‘I went from working in the newsagent to getting my foot in the record shop and then basically running the record shop, so after six months they couldn’t; afford to get rid of me... I was ordering all the stock.. it became my shop basically. I was only 16,’ thestoneroses.co.uk interview with Pete Garner read.

The band formed in 1983 and was a school friend of Ian Brown, frontman to the group. They were formed and toiled with making music for seven months before their debut and the sound they created would go on to define them and their sound.

Photo shows the Stone Roses in 1989, after Pete Garner had left

The nostalgia of those years was shared by Ian Brown on X, responding to a user who had shared a link to the bad news, ‘Very sad. We were young punk rockers when we met in 77. The nite before Petes maths and geography O levels we went to see the Clash. Always made me chuckle he did that and of course he made the right decision! X’

The group went up and down the country, trying to play gigs without a penny in their pocket. A lot of the time, they had to cough up from their own money meaning they were actively paying to do their concerts!

It was only when the band eventually packed in their day jobs - Garner at Paperchase, Ian at the DSS, did they realise that they were a real band. Little did they know at the time that their legacy would live on in the music world.

Photo shows Stone Roses in 1992

Garner played the very first Stone Roses concert in October 1984 and actively toured with the band over the next few years, alongside Ian Brown (pictured). They made their fame thanks to their creativity, fusion of musical genres, fashion statements and, of course, pioneering the movement in Manchester later coined as “Madchester.”

Pete Garner then quit the group in 1987. According to the Daily Mail, he did so to go and work at HMV. An unusual course of a career that came about as the Stone Roses were getting more and more influential. But it seems that was half the problem. The Daily Mail reported that he didn't feel worthy of being in the band.

He went to go and live a normal life and he was replaced by Rob Hampson before Gary 'Mani' Mounfield took over at the end of 1987 and stayed for the long run. But that doesn’t stop him from being so relevant in the music industry.

The Space Monkeys posted a heartfelt tribute that reinforces what most were saying about Pete Garner - that he was a really nice guy. His post on X read, ‘RIP Pete Garner. One of the coolest and nicest people you could ever meet. Music sailed through his soul. Thoughts with his family and all his many friends.’

Louderthanwar, an online publication by musician and journalist John Robb made sure to summarise their relationship, love for music and memories of the late musician. Fondly, he remembers Pete Garner: ‘He would be the amiable heart of the original Roses – the cool-looking rock n roll dude who was everyone’s friend.’

Bringing his tribute to a close, he wrote ’Pete was a vital stitch in the Manchester music, a key person and a conduit for all that great about rock n roll and more important than anything a genuine soul’. RIP