Happy Mondays Reunion

Happy Mondays lead singer Shaun Ryder has revealed that the band will reform for a string of dates this year. Following much speculation, along with the reunion announcements of fellow Madchester bands, The Stone Roses and The Inspiral Carpets, Ryder spoke on Xfm of how easy it was to get everyone back together, "It was actually really easy. I think all of us are gonna be a bit nervous - the last time we were all together was 1993. Apart from us all pushing 50 we're pretty much all the same."

This will mark the first time in 19 years that the original line-up of  Shaun Ryder, Paul Ryder, Bez, Gary Whelan, Mark Day, Paul Davies and Rowetta and  have all performed together. An 11 date tour of the UK and Ireland has already been planned with the highlight surely being the gig at the Manchester Arena on the 5th May.

The Mondays will be supported by fellow Madchester legends, The Inspiral Carpets.

Tickets go on sale Friday (February 3) at 10am

The May 2012 tour dates:

Thursday 3rd           Newcastle O2 Academy            
Friday 4th                Glasgow O2 Academy           
Saturday 5th            Manchester Arena         
Sunday 6th              Sheffield O2 Academy     
Wednesday 9th        Bournemouth O2 Academy          
Thursday 10th         London O2 Academy Brixton      
Friday 11th              London O2 Academy Brixton       
Saturday 12th         Birmingham O2 Academy           
Tuesday 15th          Dublin Olympia               
Thursday 17th         Leeds O2 Academy                   
Friday 18th             Nottingham Rock City                

Summary of 2011 in Music

The year in music summed up in 12 sentences!

• January: Adele releases "21" which would go on to became the biggest-selling album of the 21st century, overtaking Amy Winehouse's "Back to Black". 

 

• February: The White Stripes announce that they are to break up whilst Adele is again in the spotlight as she steals the show at the BRIT Awards.

 

• March: Alice Cooper, Tom Waits and Neil Diamond are among the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees.

 

• April: LCD Soundsystem play last ever gig, their final song at Madison Square Gardens being "New York, I Love You But You're Bringing Me Down".

 

• May: Azerbaijan win the Eurovision Song Contest while Jedward and Blue finish 8th and 11th respectively. 

 

• June: U2 and Coldplay headline Glastonbury with a surprise gig from a recently reformed Pulp but it's Beyonce who claims the festival with her Sunday night slot. 

 

• July: Amy Winehouse dies at the age of 27 

 

• August: "Video Games" is posted on Youtube. 

 

• September: REM announced via its website that it was "calling it a day as a band" and PJ Harvey becomes the first artist to win the Mercury Prize twice. 

 

• October: The Stone Roses announce they are to reform at the years most entertaining press conference 

 

• November: The Streets play last gig together but luckily Black Sabbath announce they will reform. 

 

• December: Little Mix wins the X-Factor and sells more copies of their cover of Damien Rice's "Cannonball" in one week than Damien has since he wrote the song!