Paul Ryder Obituary

Paul Ryder, the bass player and founding member of 80s Indie band Happy Mondays, has die. He died just hours before he was due to perform at a festival in Sunderland.

Ryder was born on 24 April 1964 and he died on 15 July 2022, aged 58.

Paul Ryder Obituary

Ryder will be best remembered as a founding member of the Manchester band Happy Mondays.

Ryder was an active member of the band through most of its history from its inception in 1983 through to his death and his bandmates include his brother Shaun Ryder, Gary Whelan, Mark “Bez” Berry, Paul Davies and Mark Day.

It was during his tenure with the band that it had its biggest successes with albums such as Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches which sold more than 350,000 copies in the UK.

Ryder left Happy Mondays to write music for several television shows, and formed a new band, Big Arm, who released an album in 2008 titled Radiator.

Ryder lived in Los Angeles where he continued to write music and supported Tom Tom Club on two of the dates on the North America tour in October 2010, playing gigs in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

He was joined by Eddy Gronfier, Neo Garcia on drums and Matt Cheadle on guitar.

Ryder was also an actor and he has appeared in the films The Ghosts of Oxford Street, Losing It, and 24 Hour Party People, where he played the role of a gangster.