Rock frontman reveals ‘homecoming’ tour in UK after ‘leaving things unsaid’ about band’s savage break-up 15 years ago
LEGENDARY frontman Richard Ashcroft is heading back out on tour – 15 years since his break-up from The Verve.
During the height of the Britpop era in the 90s, The Verve charmed audiences with hits including Bittersweet Symphony and The Drugs Don’t Work.
Since their break-up in 1999, Richard Ashcroft has arguably seen the most success from his efforts, releasing six albums since 2000, all of which made it into the UK Top 5.
In 2019 he was recognised by the Ivor Novellos for his outstanding contribution to music.
Now, the Wigan native is heading back on the road again – with massive dates on his home turf.
“After 25 years, I’m back playing in my hometown,” Richard said. “Looking forward to an amazing night in
Wigan.”
The star will be playing two dates at Wigan’s Robin Park on Saturday 20 July and Sunday 21 July.
Cast, Redrum and Maxwell Varey will support him on Saturday, with The Zutons, The Royston Club and Stanleys supporting him on Sunday.
Tickets to Saturday’s show has already sold out, prompting them to add the second date.
With the release of their 1997 album Urban Hymns, the group – with Ashcroft as front man, guitarist Nick McCabe, bass guitarist Simon Jones and drummer Peter Salisbury – became international success stories.
They won Brit awards for best British band, were nominated for a Grammy for Bittersweet Symphony and even knocked Oasis off the number one spot in the UK charts.
However, just two years later the band had bitterly split, with physical fights among their numerous issues.
After one fight in Dusseldorf, McCabe quit the band while they were on tour, and after that the band began to fizzle out – suffering a further setback when Massive Attack pulled out of their US tour.
Officially breaking up in 1999, the band since made attempts to reunite, but largely found success with their own solo projects.
When asked if they would ever reform, Ashcroft joked: “You’re more likely to get all four Beatles on stage.”
However, they did reunite from 2007 to 2009 before going their separate ways again.
None of the band have ever given a definitive answer behind their break-up, with Ashcroft acknowledging to NME that there were “things left unsaid” back in 2018.
“If you wanted me to give clarity on why or what was the main factor, what I’d be doing was changing… I made a decision quite a number of years ago that I’d see how it pans out,” he told Radio X.
“I’ll see if any other member tries to re-write history, you know. I’ll see how many bizarre takes on events stack up and then maybe one day I’ll go: ‘You know what? I’ll write the book’.”
In the same chat, he later added: “There was real people’s lives. It was real emotions, and I’ve never really thought about completely clarifying it because I know the damage that clarifying it will do.
“So I am prepared to take any bizarre misshapen f**ked-up version of that reality said by anyone,” he concluded.
“Any ex member of the band can say what the fuck they like, because I know the truth and I’m cool with it. And I know what I’ve done since the band, and I know what I’ll continue to do. Judge me by my works…”