First incarnation The band were signed to
Factory Records after passing a demo tape to Phil Saxe, a trader at
Manchester Arndale who was on friendly terms with
Mike Pickering, a DJ at the
Haçienda nightclub. Saxe became the band's manager. Their first release was the "Forty Five EP", often called the "Delightful EP" after its first track. It was released on Factory Records in September 1985. Much of their music was remixed by popular
DJs, emphasising the dance influences even further. In style and dress, they crossed
hippy fashion and ideals with 1970s glamour. Sartorially and musically, the band helped to encourage the
psychedelic revival associated with
acid house. One of their most popular songs is "Lazyitis (One Armed Boxer)", featuring a surreal duet between Ryder and
Karl Denver. In February 1991, Happy Mondays played in
Rock in Rio 2 at the
Maracanã Stadium in
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, The album was a commercial failure that bankrupted Factory Records.
Second incarnation Happy Mondays disbanded in 1993, and
Shaun Ryder and
Bez formed
Black Grape with ex-
Paris Angels guitarist "Wags" (who would later go on to serve in the 1999–2000 reincarnation of the Mondays) and ex-
Ruthless Rap Assassins star Kermit. with founding members Shaun Ryder, Paul Ryder, Gaz Whelan and Bez but without Paul Davis and Mark Day. In the place of Day and Davis were Wags and a number of other session musicians including Ben Leach who had once been a member of
The Farm, percussionist Lea Mullen, and rapper "Nuts". Also appearing with the new line-up was soul diva Rowetta Satchell (who sang back-up on Pills, Thrills, and Bellyaches, as well as Yes Please!). The band toured extensively in the UK and internationally, selling out the 20,000 capacity
Manchester Arena and two nights at
Brixton Academy, and released a new single, a cover version of the
Thin Lizzy hit "The Boys Are Back in Town". The single reached number 24 in the
UK Singles Chart. They provided support for
Oasis on their "Standing on the Shoulder of Giants" arena tour, played at the
Fuji Rock Festival in Japan, numerous European festivals including T in the Park and also toured Australia the same year. The band once more ceased their activity in 2001 following the departure of bass player and founding member Paul Ryder. A fictionalised depiction of the band is featured in the 2002 film
24 Hour Party People, with Danny Cunningham as Shaun Ryder and
Paul Popplewell as Paul Ryder. Paul Ryder himself had a cameo role in the film as a
gangster and
Rowetta appeared in the film as herself.
Third incarnation 2004 saw another re-formation, comprising original members
Bez,
Gaz and
Shaun Ryder along with another group of musicians. Shaun Ryder recruited
Kav Sandhu to join on guitar and bring in a new group of musicians. Sandhu brought on-board bassist Mikey Shine, keyboard player Dave Parkinson and guitarist Jonn Dunn. Dave Parkinson was later replaced by Dan Broad. Backing singers on the first tour were
Angie Brown and
Ron Carroll. from 2004 to 2006 the band were managed by Danny Newman, MD at London Club
Turnmills brother of London Club DJ Tall Paul. Rowetta was replaced by Julie E. Gordon who toured with the band until 2010. Paul Ryder was not present, having sworn to never perform with his brother again following the 2000 break-up, and formed his own band Big Arm. That year, the Happy Mondays released a live DVD of a show in Barcelona. They played a variety of festival dates in 2005 (including
Global Gathering), capping it off with a concert at the Manchester Arena. In June 2006, Happy Mondays performed in
Liverpool, and on 30 July 2006 they were special guests at the Fuji Rock Festival. In August 2006, the band announced that they had completed their first album in fourteen years, with producers Sunny Levine and
Howie B, and had signed to
Sanctuary Records. A single "Playground Superstar", from the soundtrack for the football film
Goal!, was released a few months prior to completion of the new album,
Uncle Dysfunktional released in mid-2007. on
Noel Gallagher's label
Big Brother Records. Happy Mondays performed before another re-formed act,
Rage Against the Machine, at the 2007
Coachella Music Festival in
Indio, California. They were introduced by Tony Wilson. Bez missed the show because he could not get into the US due to "passport issues". The band then toured throughout the summer of 2007 including a trip to the Numusic Festival in Norway. They played
Splendour in the Grass in Australia in July 2009, and the UK
V Festival in August 2009. Happy Mondays toured the US and Canada with
the Psychedelic Furs in late 2009 with Paul Ryder's son and Shaun Ryder's nephew Jake Ryder filling in for Gaz Whelan on drums. Happy Mondays appeared at the Wizard Festival in North-East Scotland in August 2010. This version of the band continued until 2010. Members Mikey Shine, Jonn Dunn & Dan Broad continued to back Shaun Ryder for his solo tour until 2011, surrounding the release of his autobiography.
Fourth incarnation On 29 January 2012, Shaun Ryder announced on radio station
Xfm that the band would return with the original and definitive lineup of himself, his brother
Paul Ryder on bass,
Gaz Whelan on drums, Rowetta as guest second vocalist, Mark Day on guitar, Paul Davis on keyboards and dancer Mark Berry. They appeared on ITV's
This Morning and were interviewed by
Phillip Schofield. Shaun Ryder pronounced that amends had been made, friendships reinstated and that it was just like the old days, but without the madness. They did a 13-date UK tour in May 2012, most of which were sold out, and an extra date was added at London's Brixton Academy due to the demand for tickets. The tour included other shows at the Manchester Arena, plus other dates in
Bournemouth,
Glasgow,
Dublin,
Leeds,
Sheffield and
Nottingham. To coincide with the band's reformation tour a
best of album,
Double Double Good was released in July 2012, as well as a live recording of the band's May 2012 gig in
Brixton. The band went on to play gigs in
Chile and
Argentina in May 2012 and then a number of European festivals in the summer of 2012, including Ireland's Sea Sessions, Scotland's T in the Park, the band were headliners at Camp Bestival in
Dorset in July 2012 and they performed at the V Festivals in August 2012. They then travelled to
Mallorca and
Ibiza to play the Ibiza and Mallorca Rocks events. The band announced in September 2012 that they were writing their first album with the original lineup in more than 20 years. The band played two nights at the
Roundhouse, London and in
Manchester in December 2012. They travelled to
Dubai in April 2013 to perform and in May 2013 played gigs at
Bristol's Vegfest and one in
Brighton. June 2013 brought gigs at the
Isle of Wight Festival and
Scarborough, then in July 2013 they played at the
Warrington Music Festival and at
Sandown Park Racecourse in
Esher,
Surrey. They played dates in
Belfast,
Crewe and Dublin in August 2013. In October 2013 they travelled to
Spain to do gigs in
Barcelona and
Madrid then in November 2013 they kicked off a 16-date UK tour to celebrate 25 years since their second critically acclaimed album
Bummed was released, and the band planned to play most of the songs from that infamous album. The band signed to Warren Askew & Oliver Moheda at Total Artist Management in 2010 and
Creation Management in 2015 for management. They have announced an international tour to coincide with the 25th anniversary of the ''Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches''. In September 2015, the programme
Singing in the Rainforest followed the band as they travelled to
Panama to record a new song with an isolated tribe called the Embera. The band composed a track with members of the tribe for a performance, penning the track "Ooo La La to Panama". Although billed as the first original line-up recording since 1992, Paul Davis was not present, and no mention of him was made. Gaz Whelan confirmed on
Twitter that Davis had left the band. The band toured
Australia and
New Zealand in February and March 2019, performing their 1990 album ''
Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches''. On 15 July 2022, the band announced via their
Facebook page that
Paul Ryder had died in the early hours of that morning. He was 58 years old. In March 2024, the band embarked on a UK tour with
Inspiral Carpets as the support act. Prior to the tour, frontman Shaun Ryder stated that the band would be on hiatus for a few years following the tour. In September 2025, the band announced a UK & Ireland tour for March and April 2026 to celebrate 35 years since the release of ''
Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches'', with
The Farm and
Northside as support acts. ==Awards and nominations==