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Ian Brown pays tribute to original Stone Roses bassist Pete Garner, who has died aged 61

Brown said the news was "very sad" and called Garner "off the scale nice".

By Will Richards

Ian Brown performing live on-stage
Ian Brown performs live. CREDIT: Alamy

Ian Brown has led tributes to original Stone Roses bassist Pete Garner, who has passed away at the age of 61.

Garner joined the band in 1983, having been a school friend of Brown and guitarist John Squire. He played on the band’s debut AA-side single, ‘So Young’ and ‘Tell Me’, in 1985.

He also appeared on the song ‘Sally Cinnamon’, which was released in 1987. As Louder Than War report, he then left the band a month after the release of the song, claiming that he “believed he wasn’t good enough for them”, instead taking a job at HMV.

Paying tribute to Garner on X/Twitter, Brown said: “Yeah very sad. We were young punk rockers when we met in 77. The nite before Petes 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!”

In reply to another tweet paying tribute to the bassist, Brown added: “Few loved music as much as Pete he been bathing in music since 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 dont get no more! He got that from his lovely Mum! GOD Bless Pete RiP X”

After he left the band, Garner was replaced by Rob Hampson, who was only in the band for a short time before being replaced by long-term bassist Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield before the end of 1987.

The band went on to release their lauded self-titled debut album two years later.