The Stone Roses bassist Pete Garner dead: Original bandmember dies aged 59 - Ian Brown leads tributes

Pete Garner, the original bass player for hallowed UK band The Stone Roses, has died aged 59. No official announcement has been made regarding his cause of death, however some reports including The Sun have suggested that the bassist was battling cancer at the time of his death.

Garner was a member of the group between the years of 1983 and 1987 before he left his role in the band to pursue a career working for HMV because, according to Louder Than War, he didn’t feel that he was good enough to be in the group. He was replaced for a short while by Rob Hampson before the role was taken over full-time by Gary 'Mani' Mounfield at the end of 1987.

Despite his short tenure, Garner was involved in some of the biggest tracks from the iconic Manchester outfit, including “So Young” and “Sally Cinnamon” - the latter a quintessential track from that era’s burgeoning ‘baggy’ scene. His involvement in the band stemmed from meeting Ian Brown and guitarist John Squire at school and stepping in as the bassist for the last performance of their teenage band The Patrol, the outlet reported. He was recruited for The Stone Roses three years later along with Andy Couzens on rhythm guitar and Simon Wolstencroft on drums - however, Alan 'Reni' Wren would replace Wolstencroft in 1984.

Taking to X, Ian Brown paid tribute to the former bass player, writing “Very sad. We were young punk rockers when we met in 77. The nite [sic] before Pete's 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!"

"Few loved music as much as Pete he been bathing in music since [Sex Pistols'] Anarchy in the UK came out that I can vouch for and Pete was off the scale nice, an old skool nice that ya just don't get no more! He got that from his lovely Mum! GOD Bless Pete RiP X."