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Paul ‘Wags’ Wagstaff, Happy Mondays and Black Grape guitarist, dead at 60

Sun 23 March 2025 11:20, UK

Former Happy Mondays and Black Grape guitarist Paul ‘Wags’ Wagstaff has passed away at the age of 60. A key component of Manchester’s incredible music scene back in the 1990s, Wagstaff performed with Paris Angels before being recruited for Black Grape and the reformed version of Happy Mondays in 1999.

After forming Paris Angles in 1990, Wagstaff became a cult figure within Manchester music. The band’s blending of indie rock guitar music and the acid house scene sweeping the Pennines typified the ‘Madchester’ era. Following the break-up of Factory Records outfit Happy Mondays in 1993, Shaun Ryder recruited Wagstaff for his new group, Black Grape.

Within Black Grape, Wagstaff’s guitar playing was an utterly essential component of their sound. So much so that, when Ryder decided to reform Happy Mondays in 1999, Wagstaff was asked to fill in for original Mondays guitarist Mark Day.

At the time of writing, no official cause of death has been revealed for the 60-year-old guitarist. In the wake of his tragic passing, multiple friends, family members, former bandmates, and fellow musicians paid tribute to the ‘Madchester’ hero. Leading the tributes was Wagstaff’s former Black Grape and Happy Mondays bandmate, Bez, who wrote, “Mr Paul Wagstaff (Wags), remembering the good times. RIP my friend.”

Paris Angels bassist Scott Carey also paid tribute to his friend and bandmate, sharing, “His talent was innate, as was his ability to sniff out a good time at 50 paces. He had a wonderment about his soul. A one off x.”

Blockheads frontman Mike Bennett paid a heartfelt tribute to Wagstaff, writing, “I knew him for years, and he was not just a musician but a literary scholar, and always had a kind heart and a lightness of touch with the disenfranchised.”

Most recently, Wagstaff was said to be working on a project with Royal Shakespeare Company actor and long-term partner Tamara Smith.