A biography for Ian Brownhasn’t been written yet.
“I don't actually personally get off on guitar music.”
“Oasis are okay, but they're like The Sun: base.”
“I've always said prayers.”
“Stardom's transitory. Nothing really changes except people's attitudes.”
“Maybe if you see me begging on the streets, you might find me doing The Stone Roses the next day.”
“When the ravens leave the Tower, England shall fall, they say. We want to be there shooting the ravens.”
“Just because I'm a successful singer who's loved and has been loved for years doesn't mean I'm sitting behind electric gates in my own fantasy land.”
“Northern soul was huge in Manchester in the '70s and '80s; I went to a lot of all-nighters.”
“With the Stone Roses, I always thought we'd be successful because we had some great songs.”
“One thing I've always loved and rated me dad for is that, because of him, I've never seen the Queen's Christmas speech.”
“It is a fact that everyone's got a limited run in music - but who's to say how long that run lasts? I used to think that there would be no way I'd still be in music when I was 40. I used to think anyone who was 40 was an old man, and they probably shouldn't be doing it anymore.”
“I've got six solo albums. I've been round the world three times. I don't even think about the Roses.”
“I started doing karate when I was 11.”
“I can't think of anyone who's reformed for art's sake. That's why the Roses will never reform.”
“You'll never find a Manchester band slagging off another Manchester band, but within each Manchester band, people will rip each other apart: Mondays, Smiths, New Order, Roses, Oasis.”
“People want to adulate people.”
“I don't like to play anywhere with a banner for Carlsberg or vodka or whatever. I'm not a drinker myself, and I don't like feeling like I'm working for the liquor companies.”
“We need to ban all air-freighted food. Carrots from Holland. Potatoes from Egypt. It's got to stop.”
“My sister bought me the Koran in 1990. I always thought the stories in it were magical.”
“We're the most important group in the world.”