Credit: Far Out / S. Bollmann / Publicity

Peter Hook shares moving tribute for Gary ‘Mani’ Mounfield: “Every day spent with him was a total pleasure”

Wed 26 November 2025 14:16, UK

Former New Order bassist Peter Hook has shared a moving tribute to the late Primal Scream and The Stone Roses icon, Gary ‘Mani‘ Mounfield.

On November 20th, the bassist passed away at the age of 63. The news was shared via Facebook by his brother, Greg. “It is with the heaviest of hearts that I have to announce the sad passing of my brother Gary Mani Mounfield. RIP RKID,” he wrote online.

At the time, touching tributes from the likes of Liam Gallagher, Ian Brown and Kasabian flooded social media. Now, Hook has added his own.

Writing in The Guardian, Hook began by looking back on how their friendship began: “I first met Mani when the Stone Roses’ manager asked me to produce them. We did Elephant Stone and they were lovely. Then as Manchester turned into Madchester, I got to know them really well.”

Hook went to a few “fantastic” shows and eventually had the Stone Roses in his Suite 16 studio recording demos for their second album. They eventually scrapped it. However, that time meant Hook “got to know Mani and his wife, Imelda. We had a wild period.”

The pair fell out only when they started the band Freebass, alongside The Smiths’ Andy Rourke, another bass player. Though the row made them fall out “badly,” Mani “slagged [Hook] off,” but “the very next day he phoned me up and apologised.”

Thankfully, the disagreement made their friendship blossom: “Once we were no longer working together, we became friends and after that every day spent with him was a total pleasure.”

Hook praised Mani’s loyalty, writing, “When people say Mani could be a clown or joker, it isn’t the right word. Yes, he was very entertaining. He was a man of the people, very funny and very irreverent. But he also had an intensity and didn’t suffer fools gladly. He was very passionate about things he believed in.”

Continuing to grieve his friend’s boldness, Hook wrote, “If he felt something was wrong, or there was some sort of injustice, he was very tenacious. Once you had Mani on your side, you were rocking. He was a fighter and never gave an inch but he was everybody’s friend and nobody had a bad word about him.”

He recalled a hilarious story with a scooter that proved Mani’s relentless optimism. Hook went on to praise his bass playing, too: “From a bass-playing point of view, he was the best. Everybody wanted to be him.”

Hook admitted to being jealous, sharing incredulously, “I recently watched him playing ‘Fool’s Gold’ on Instagram and thought: “How is he playing that?””

Hook then shared his grief and sadness at his passing, especially so close to his wife, Imelda, with whom he had two twin boys: “Once they got their boys, they were absolutely made up. They were a great little family.”

Mani announced a tour not a week before his passing, and Hook shared that he had been “so looking forward” to the new venture. The in-conversation tour that was set to take him around the UK in 2026.

Hook finished his touching tribute with an earnest admission: “I can safely say that Mani will never be forgotten.”