In celebration of the 35th anniversary of their classic album ‘Pills ‘n’ Thrills And Bellyaches’, the Happy Mondays are heading out on a 22-date tour in March and April 2026 with a stop off at Brighton Dome on 2nd of April
Happy Mondays became the pioneers of the Madchester sound after signing to Tony Wilson’s Factory Records in the late ‘80s, blending their love of funk, rock, psychedelia and house with the sounds of the UK’s emerging rave scene.
The band became icons of Britain’s biggest cultural phenomenon for a generation when they crossed over into the mainstream with ‘Pills ‘n’ Thrills And Bellyaches’, which reached #4 in the UK Albums Chart following its release on 27th November 1990. It remained on the albums chart until the end of May 1991, establishing itself as one of the decade’s defining albums.
Shaun Ryder and Bez look back at the madness, music and miracles of still being Happy Mondays. From autocues to viral fame, sexless marriages to survival, they tell the story their way — unfiltered.
When you revisit Pills ‘N’ Thrills And Bellyaches now, what hits you first — the sound of it, or the madness around it?
[Shaun Ryder] You know what? Because we got back together with the Mondays in f**king 1999 — and we’ve been doing it ever since — I’ve been playing those songs for so long that it all just becomes second nature. I mean, you know, we go out on tour, and we do tracks off the first album, Squirrel and G-Man, we do a couple off Bummed, and then we do the Pills ‘N’ Thrills and Bellyaches stuff. So it all sort of flows together now, you know what I mean? I don’t sit there thinking, “Oh, this is that iconic album,” even though everyone else does. To me, they’re just our tunes. But it still sounds good — proper good — like it could’ve been made today. I don’t really notice the years on it because we’ve never stopped playing the bloody thing. It’s part of the furniture now.
Thirty-five years on, which moment in the live set still gives you the biggest buzz?
[Shaun Ryder] Well, that’s changed loads over the years. I mean, I’ve gone through phases where I’ve absolutely f**king hated everything — hated touring, hated myself, hated the lifestyle — and then phases where I’ve loved it and then hated it again. But now? Now I just f**king enjoy it more than ever. It’s mad. I get a buzz now more than I did when we were kids. Maybe it’s because the sex and drugs have gone — all that madness — and now it’s just the rock ‘n’ roll road. And I’m enjoying the road. You get older, and you appreciate the crowds more, the band more, the songs more. I get a buzz off the whole thing every night, and I never expected that.
When you think back to the Mondays’ wildest days, what moment still feels completely unreal?
[Bez] Mate, the unreal thing is simply that we’re actually still in the band — all the Happy Mondays — after all this time. That’s the bit that blows my mind. If you’d thought back all those years ago, when we set out as young fellas chasing a dream, causing chaos everywhere we went, you’d never have imagined we’d be here now as sixty-odd-year-old fellas, planning gigs and getting the band back together again. That is unreal. That’s the moment. Just being here, still doing it, still being the Happy Mondays. The fact that we survived it all, physically and mentally, is unbelievable.
How do you cope with remembering lyrics today, Shaun, and how important has the autocue been?
[Shaun Ryder] Oh, I still can’t remember any of the f**king lyrics I wrote — not a chance. If you take the autocue away, forget it. I’d be starting a song with the second verse, mixing lines up, putting the chorus where the middle eight should be, all sorts. Now I know why — it’s my ADHD, dyslexia, all the things I’ve got going on in my head. Back in the day, I had laminated sheets of paper on the floor, and even then, I’d still get lost. Once I got an autocue, around 2000, that was it — finally, I could keep up.
People go, “But you wrote it!” And I say, “If you wrote a book, try getting onstage and reading it perfectly under lights with 5,000 people staring at you!” Some people have photographic memories — I don’t. We played with Bowie in the early ’90s, and even he had a massive lyric screen he’d glance at. If it’s good enough for Bowie, it’s good enough for me.
Why do you think the Mondays’ songs still land so strongly with audiences who weren’t there the first time around?
[Shaun Ryder] I honestly don’t know — I ask myself the same thing. Back in the f**king ’80s, a lot of the stuff around was total s**t, so we were digging into the underground, listening to the Doors, all that kind of thing. We were trying to make something different. And good music is good music — that’s it. Something like 24 Hour Party People still sounds like it could’ve been written today. People connect with it because it’s timeless — not because we meant it to be, but because that’s what came out.
Do you ever miss the chaos, Bez, or does calmness suit you better these days?
[Bez] I’d love my life to be calm — honestly, I would — but it’s just not meant to be that way. But I can’t complain. I wake up in the same f**king bed next to my wife, and I’m like, “I’m f**king lucky, me.” Sometimes I can’t believe the luck I’ve had. Being a Happy Monday gave me freedom — proper freedom — and not many people today get that kind of freedom to live life in a free and honest way. I’m blown away by it sometimes. I thank people for letting me be a Happy Monday because it gave me a way of life that most people never get. So no, I can’t complain about the chaos — it’s part of who I am.
Shaun, your partnership with Bez has survived everything—what keeps that bond strong after all these years?
[Shaun Ryder] Our friendship is like a sexless marriage. We don’t have sex — that’s why it works. I know he wants to, but he’s not managing it. We are married… and sexless.
Gogglebox opened you both up to a whole new crowd — how does it feel seeing younger fans discover you through TV?
[Shaun Ryder] When Bez did Big Brother back in 2005, he brought a whole new young fanbase to the band. When I did the jungle in 2010, the same thing — loads of new people suddenly knew who we were. And every time we do things like Storage Hunters, we pick up more.
You get the young ‘uns watching all that stuff on their iPads. These two old d**kheads — me and him — looking like teenagers to them. They watch us for 20 minutes, then check out the music, and the next thing you know, they’re at the shows. That’s one of the main reasons we do TV — it brings in new fans. Our fanbase now goes from f**king ten-year-olds to people in their nineties.
[Bez] Yeah, it’s mad. At the gigs now, there’s a proper cross-section of people — mums, dads, kids, grandparents, all sorts. It’s turned into a family occasion. People introduce their kids to the music, and it’s great seeing that generational thing. Most of them come to it because of their parents, and that’s brilliant to see.
Bez, What surprised you most about filming Gogglebox together?
[Bez] Well, I don’t want to spoil it, right, but the power of television — it’s not what it seems. But the great thing is the company behind it. They’re brilliant to work for, really friendly, great production setup, proper nice people. And they ply you with whiskey and Guinness, which is dangerous for me and Shaun. (Laughs) Once we get a bit too much whiskey in us, whatever comes out of my mouth is stuff you could never show on television.
Clips of you two go viral constantly — how aware are you of TikTok and social media bringing in new fans?
[Shaun Ryder] Oh yeah, absolutely. All the clips end up on f**king TikTok. Loads of kids found out about us because the Gorillaz tune was used on there — no idea why, but it worked. You just pick up new fans constantly. I even forget what I’m saying mid-sentence, but that’s how they discover us. And with Gogglebox, when we weren’t on it for a bit, people kept going, “You’re not doing Gogglebox anymore?” We’ve not been told anything — they usually film in April, so we wait and see.
I can’t think of anyone else in a band who became as famous as you, Bez, without actually playing an instrument or singing — why do you think that happened for you?
[Bez] (Laughs) Especially not really playing! But it was timing, wasn’t it? You couldn’t get a better moment — the whole ecstasy explosion, the culture, the energy in Manchester. We were at the very forefront of it, first in every way. Me and Shaun rode that wave right from the start. I don’t know how it happened — I just went with it — but the timing was perfect.
After everything you and Shaun have been through, what’s the bond between you like today?
[Bez] We’ve been through a hell of a lot, yeah. As Shaun says, it’s really like a sexless marriage because we’ve been together for so long. Being a Happy Monday is a proper roller coaster — the ups, the downs, the lows, the highs. You can’t write this f**king s**t. We’ve had some big fallouts, as you’d imagine, over more than 35 years — must be 40 now. And yet, after everything, we’re still really good friends. That’s what it’s about — being able to go through all that emotion with somebody. It’s rare, really rare.
The full list of tour dates is as follows:
13 March – Newcastle, O2 City Hall
14 March – Leeds, O2 Academy
15 March – Nottingham, Rock City
20 March – Cardiff, DEPOT
21 March – Liverpool, Mountford Hall
22 March – Sheffield, The Octagon
26 March – Cambridge, Corn Exchange
27 March – London, Roundhouse
28 March – Southend, Cliffs Pavilion
29 March – Norwich, The LCR
02 April – Brighton, Dome
03 April – Bristol, Beacon Hall
04 April – Birmingham, O2 Academy
05 April – Bournemouth, O2 Academy
09 April – Margate, Dreamland
10 April – Guildford, G Live
11 April – Manchester, O2 Victoria Warehouse
16 April – Glasgow, Barrowland
17 April – Glasgow, Barrowland
18 April – Glasgow, Barrowland
22 April – Dublin, Vicar Street
24 April – Belfast, Mandela Hall
