John Squire | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Jonathan Thomas Squire |
Born | Altrincham, Cheshire, England | 24 November 1962
Genres | Alternative rock, Madchester, psychedelic rock, blues rock |
Instrument(s) | Guitar, vocals |
Years active | 1980–2007, 2011–2017, 2022–present |
Labels | Silvertone, Geffen |
Formerly of | |
Website | johnsquire |
Jonathan Thomas "John" Squire (born 24 November 1962) [1] is an English musician, songwriter and painter. He was the guitarist for the Stone Roses, a rock band in which he formed a songwriting partnership with lead singer Ian Brown. After leaving the Stone Roses he went on to found The Seahorses and has since released two solo albums. In 2007, Squire gave up music to fully commit to painting. [2] However, he later returned to music when the Stone Roses reformed in 2011. When the Stone Roses disbanded for a second time in 2017, Squire once again retired from music industry and returned to painting. However, he continues to play guitar occasionally, including making guest appearances for two shows with Liam Gallagher at Knebworth in 2022, In late 2023 he started working with Liam Gallagher on a collaborative studio album which released on 1 March 2024 with the singles "Just Another Rainbow" and "Mars To Liverpool" preceding the album's release.
Squire has been described as one of the most accomplished and influential British rock guitarists of the late 1980s and early 1990s, [3] known for his chiming melodies, spiraling riffs and live solos. He was voted the 13th greatest guitarist of the last 30 years in a national poll by BBC 6 Music in 2010. [4]
Squire was born in Broadheath, Altrincham, Cheshire. [1] He grew up on Sylvan Avenue in Timperley, around the corner from Ian Brown, and after attending Heyes Lane Junior School, he passed the eleven plus exam and went on to attend Altrincham Grammar School for Boys. As a child he excelled at art. [5] He formed a close friendship with Ian Brown during their last two years at school together after Brown aided him in a fight with a school bully. The two further bonded over a shared love for punk rock, particularly the Clash. [5]
Squire and Brown moved on to South Trafford College after passing O-Levels. Brown got expelled and Squire dropped out shortly after in order to start a band. [6] Although Squire had a couple of guitar lessons, he was largely self-taught. [7]
In the early 1980s Squire and Brown founded a band, Patrol, that eventually became the Stone Roses. Squire was lead guitarist, and the partnership between him and Brown formed the heart of the band's lyrical and musical output.
The Stone Roses became one of the most influential acts of its era. Their 1989 eponymous debut album quickly achieved the status of a classic in the UK, and topped NME's list of the Greatest British Albums of All Time. Squire (now calling himself John, instead of his birth name of Jonathan) co-wrote all of the tracks with Brown and painted the cover art, a Jackson Pollock-influenced piece containing references to the May 1968 riots in Paris.
The band's second album, Second Coming was released in 1994. It featured a heavier blues-rock sound, similar to Led Zeppelin and the Allman Brothers Band, [8] but fused with Ian Brown's distinct Britpop vocal style. The album also featured Squire's vocals for the first time on 'Tightrope' and 'How Do You Sleep'. Squire wrote the majority of its songs alone. The album was met with mixed reaction from fans, and shortly after band infighting and rumoured cocaine abuse led to his departure from the band on 1 April 1996. The band dissolved six months later.
With three previously unknown musicians, Squire formed a new band, The Seahorses, in 1996. The band's only album Do it Yourself was released in 1997. The Seahorses disbanded due to creative differences in 1999.
Following the demise of the Seahorses, Squire continued work with drummer Mark Heaney and ex-Verve bassist Simon Jones along with new vocalist Duncan Baxter as John Squire's Skunkworks, but left prior to the band releasing material as the Shining. [9]
Squire released his first solo album, Time Changes Everything in 2002. A concept album followed in 2004 entitled Marshall's House . Squire has also said that he has recorded a third album, however he has decided not to release it as he felt that promoting and touring the album would take the fun out of the music, and turn it into a job rather than a hobby. This is the second time that Squire has recorded an album and opted to keep it unreleased, as he did the same in 1999 as a part of the Seahorses, when they recorded an album, set to be named "Minus Blue" or "Motorcade", but decided to break up rather than release the album.
In 2024, Squire collaborated with Liam Gallagher on the album Liam Gallagher & John Squire , which they released on 1 March 2024. [10] Their number one album had been preceded by the singles "Just Another Rainbow" (peaking at number sixteen in the UK Singles Chart) [11] the second single "Mars to Liverpool" they performed live on ITV on The Jonathan Ross Show which aired 9 March. [12] [13] Squire and Gallagher announced their debut tour, on 26 January 2024, with sell out performances in Leeds, Glasgow, Manchester, Newcastle, London and Dublin. [14] [15]
Besides music, Squire is also a published artist. His artwork has adorned the singles, album covers and promotional posters for his and the Stone Roses' music. In the 1980s, Squire's artistic style was heavily influenced by the action painting technique of Jackson Pollock. In recent years, Squire has shown a broader use of media and has incorporated newer influences to his work. One such item – a surfboard covered with Beach Boys song lyrics, which was for the War Child charity to auction – featured on the cover for Travis's 1997 single release "U16 Girls" and their debut album Good Feeling . In 2004, Squire held two well-received art exhibitions in London and Manchester.
He has exhibited his artwork at the Smithfield Gallery (July 2007) and the Dazed Gallery, London (September – October 2007). At the Smithfield Gallery opening, Squire told a reporter from the Manchester Evening News that he was giving up music for good. He explained that "I'm enjoying this far too much to go back to music." [2] When asked about a Stone Roses reunion, he said it was "highly unlikely". [2]
In January 2009, Squire launched a new exhibition of his art entitled Heavy Metal Semantics, in London, and further exhibitions in Oldham, Austria and Tokyo later in the year. [16] Further exhibitions include Edinburgh in August 2010, Brussels in early 2011 and London in 2019. [17]
In late 2012, Squire's art studio burned down. The studio, a converted sheep barn on his farm in Cheshire, was ruled to have caught ablaze on accident. Squire said he was "extremely sad" that a lot of his artwork had been destroyed. [18] [19]
After leaving the Stone Roses, Squire had a lasting feud with ex-bandmate Ian Brown, with the pair not having spoken in over a decade since Squire's departure from the band. In a 2005 Q magazine article, Squire blasted Brown, claiming "When he (Brown) was stoned, he was at best a tuneless knob and at worst a paranoid mess" (this was in response to queries about what had gone wrong with the Second Coming recording sessions, and the state of Brown's vocal due to his cannabis intake). Although both Brown and Squire performed Stone Roses songs in their solo gigs, a band reunion seemed unlikely. Squire was interviewed in June 2007 by Dave Haslam on XFM Manchester radio and discussed his current work as an artist, and claimed that even if Brown phoned him and suggested a Stone Roses reunion, he would turn the offer down. [20] But in an interview on The Culture Show in 2008, Squire stated: "I went to that Led Zeppelin reunion show, and on the way back in the car I was thinking it would be good to do something like that one day."
In March 2009, Squire appeared to put an end to speculation surrounding the Stone Roses' reunion by defacing one of his artworks with the text "I have no desire whatsoever to desecrate the grave of seminal Manchester pop group the Stone Roses." [21] Also on 19 March 2009, Squire appeared on the BBC's Newsnight , and when asked if a reunion would ever occur, he stated that it would "absolutely most definitely not". He said he came on air to address the fans once and for all and also, "to stop the phones ringing." He also stated his belief that music is a young person's game. [22]
In March 2011, Brown and Squire met at the funeral of Mani's mother, leading to speculation that the band would reform. This was angrily denied at the time by Mani. [23] However, on 18 October 2011, at London's Soho Hotel, the Stone Roses announced that they would reunite for the first time in fifteen years, playing three shows at Heaton Park, Manchester, on 29 and 30 June and 1 July 2012 as part of an extensive Reunion Tour, and on 2 December 2011 Brown and Squire performed together live for the first time since 1995. They joined Mick Jones from the Clash, the Farm and Pete Wylie at the Manchester Ritz in aid of the Justice for Hillsborough campaign. They performed "Elizabeth My Dear" as a duo before being joined by Mick Jones and the Farm for renditions of the Clash's "Bankrobber" and "Armagideon Time" with Ian Brown taking on lead vocals for the three songs. The Stone Roses played a European tour in the summer of 2012. The band played around the world, playing their last concert in 2017. Squire then returned to painting. In a 2019 interview he said he had written and recorded some songs but only his wife had heard them.
On 3 and 4 June 2022, Squire made his first stage appearances in five years at the encore of Liam Gallagher's two Knebworth House concerts, as a guest guitarist on the song "Champagne Supernova". These mirrored the guest appearances he had previously made at Oasis' record-breaking Knebworth shows in 1996. [24]
Squire is married to wife Sophie Upton, with whom he has three children. He also has three more children from a previous relationship. Squire and Upton live on a farm in rural Cheshire. [25] [26]
The Stone Roses were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1983. One of the pioneering groups of the Madchester movement in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the band's classic and most prominent lineup consisted of vocalist Ian Brown, guitarist John Squire, bassist Mani and drummer Reni.
Oasis were an English rock band formed in Manchester in 1991. Originally known as the Rain, the group initially consisted of Liam Gallagher, Paul Arthurs (guitar), Paul McGuigan and Tony McCarroll (drums), with Liam's older brother Noel Gallagher joining as a fifth member a few months after their formation. Noel became the de facto leader of the group and took over the songwriting duties for the band's first four albums. They are characterised as one of the defining groups of the Britpop genre.
William John Paul Gallagher is an English singer and songwriter who achieved fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band Oasis from 1991 to 2009. He later fronted the rock band Beady Eye from 2009 to 2014, before starting a successful solo career in 2017. Oasis had various line-up changes; Gallagher and his elder brother Noel were the only constant members. One of the most recognisable figures in British rock music, Gallagher is noted for his distinctive vocal style and outspoken personality.
Noel Thomas David Gallagher is an English musician, singer and songwriter. He was the primary songwriter, lead guitarist and co-lead vocalist of the rock band Oasis until their split in 2009. After leaving Oasis, he formed Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds. He is one of the most successful songwriters in British music history, as the writer of eight UK number-one singles and co-writer of a further number one, as well as the sole or primary writer of ten UK number-one studio albums. He is widely considered to be one of the most influential songwriters in the history of British rock music, cited by numerous major subsequent artists as an influence.
The Stone Roses is the debut studio album by English rock band the Stone Roses. It was recorded mostly at Battery Studios in London with producer John Leckie from June 1988 to February 1989 and released later that year on 2 May by Silvertone Records.
Alan John "Reni" Wren is an English rock drummer and member of The Stone Roses.
Ian George Brown is an English singer and multi-instrumentalist. He was the lead singer and the only continuous member of the alternative rock band the Stone Roses from their formation in 1983. Following the band's initial split in 1996, he began a solo career, releasing seven studio albums, a greatest hits compilation, a remix album, an 11-disc box set titled Collection, and 19 singles. He returned to singing for the Stone Roses in 2011, although this did not spell the end of his solo endeavours, releasing First World Problems through Virgin/EMI Records on 25 October 2018.
The Seahorses were an English alternative rock band, formed in 1996 by guitarist John Squire, following his departure from The Stone Roses.
Paul Benjamin Arthurs, known professionally as Bonehead, is an English musician. He is best known as the co-founder, rhythm guitarist, and occasional keyboardist and bassist of the rock band Oasis.
Christopher Alan Helme is an English singer-songwriter, formerly the frontman of John Squire's post-Stone Roses band The Seahorses.
Kasabian are an English rock band formed in Leicester in 1997 by lead vocalist Tom Meighan, guitarist and second vocalist Sergio Pizzorno, guitarist Chris Pratt and bassist Chris Edwards. Drummer Ian Matthews joined in 2004. Pratt left the band in 2006 and founded a new band called Black Onassis. Jay Mehler joined as touring lead guitarist in 2006, leaving for Liam Gallagher's Beady Eye in 2013, to be replaced by Tim Carter, who later became a full-time band member in 2021. Meighan left the band in July 2020, with Pizzorno stepping up as full-time lead vocalist.
"Begging You" is a song by English rock band the Stone Roses, released as the final single before their initial break-up a year later, and was the third single from their second album, Second Coming (1994). "Begging You" was released in the United Kingdom and Australia, peaking at number 15 on the UK Singles Chart.
Aziz Ibrahim is a British guitarist. He was born in Longsight, Manchester to Pakistani parents on 19 March 1964. He is best known for his work as guitarist with Simply Red, The Stone Roses and their former vocalist Ian Brown in whose band he regularly performs – both in the studio and live. He is also a member of the H Band with Marillion's lead singer Steve Hogarth and is involved in the writing of the second H Band album. He has also worked with Paul Weller, Steven Wilson, Asia and contributed to The Players' debut album Clear the Decks.
"Champagne Supernova" is a song by English rock band Oasis, written by Noel Gallagher. It is the closing track on the band's second studio album, (What's the Story) Morning Glory? (1995), and was released as the sixth and final single from the album in Australia and New Zealand on 13 May 1996 by Helter Skelter. The Jam frontman Paul Weller appears as a guest guitarist and backing vocalist on the track. A music video for the song, directed by Nigel Dick, was released in 1996. The single was not released in the UK.
Do It Yourself is the only album by the Seahorses, an English alternative rock band that John Squire, formerly guitarist in the Stone Roses formed. The album's cover features a photograph of Squire's 1996 sculpture in the shape of globe made of puzzle pieces and also named Do It Yourself.
Beady Eye were an English rock band formed in London in 2009 by former Oasis members Liam Gallagher (vocals), Gem Archer (guitar), Andy Bell (guitar), and Chris Sharrock (drums). In 2013, former Kasabian guitarist Jay Mehler joined the band as a touring bassist following the departure of Jeff Wootton. The band was created when Oasis' lead guitarist and primary songwriter Noel Gallagher quit in August 2009, after which the remaining members decided to rename themselves and continue making music.
Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds are an English rock band formed in 2010 as the solo moniker of former Oasis songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist Noel Gallagher. The touring band consists of former Oasis members Gem Archer (guitar), Mike Rowe (piano), and Chris Sharrock (drums), as well as former Zutons bassist Russell Pritchard. The band has also had a variety of guests contribute to albums such as the Crouch End Festival Chorus, Amorphous Androgynous, Johnny Marr, and Paul Weller.
The Stone Roses: Made of Stone is a 2013 British music documentary on the acclaimed band The Stone Roses directed by Shane Meadows. The film stars band members Ian Brown, John Squire, Gary Mounfield and Alan Wren. The film was released on 5 June 2013 in the United Kingdom.
The Rub were an English rock band, formed in 1998 in Whalley Range, Manchester by former Stone Roses drummer Alan "Reni" Wren.
Liam Gallagher John Squire is a collaborative studio album by English singer-songwriter Liam Gallagher and guitarist John Squire, released on 1 March 2024 through Warner Music UK. The album was preceded by the singles "Just Another Rainbow" and "Mars to Liverpool". It marks Squire's first album of material under his own name in twenty years since Marshall's House (2004).
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