John Squire addresses The Stone Roses split: “The spark wasn’t there”
The Stone Roses guitarist John Squire has revealed “the spark wasn’t there” when the band tried to make a new album in 2016, leading to their second split.
Squire originally left the group in 1996 to form The Seahorses, and six months later, The Stone Roses officially disbanded. In 2012, they put their problems behind them for a reunion, which saw the group perform three sold-out shows at Heaton Park before playing additional shows the following year, including Coachella and London’s Finsbury Park.
In 2016, The Stone Roses returned once more, selling-out four shows at Manchester’s Etihad Stadium, and planned to finally release a third album. They shared ‘All For One’ and ‘Beautiful Thing’ from the record, but the full body of work was never completed.
In a new interview with The Sunday Times, Squire explained: “We did two new songs in 2016, but the spark wasn’t there. People change, relationships change. Being in a band is like a marriage and a lot of marriages fail.”
The guitarist added: “When it works it is because you are in the right place at the right time, with the right people at the right stage in their lives. It can’t remain that way for ever.”
News of the band’s split officially came in 2019 when Squire revealed The Stone Roses’ final performance took place at Glasgow’s Hampden Park two years prior. During the show, Ian Brown told the crowd: “Don’t be sad that it’s over, be happy that it happened.”
Squire, who has focussed on art in recent years, recently returned to music alongside Liam Gallagher. The duo are set to release their first collaborative album on March 1st, and will also head out on a completely sold-out tour during the same month, including a performance at London’s Kentish Town Forum on March 25th.
Listen to their latest single ‘Mars to Liverpool‘ below.
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