Happy Mondays: Bez's dad dies just hours after Paul Ryder

The Happy Mondays suffered a double heartbreak after Bez's father died just hours after bassist Paul Ryder.

Ryder, aged 58, was found dead on 15 July by his mother with Bez's father being taken seriously ill on the same day just hours before the band were set to play Kubix Festival in Sunderland.

According to the Daily Mail, Bez's father had been ill for some time and died of 'old age'.

Read more: Shaun Ryder: I take more pills now than ever due to health

Bez's father, who was a policeman, was known to have inspired a passion for his son in beekeeping and attempted to keep him on the straight and narrow as a teenager.

Despite dying on the same day, Bez's father was buried a week before Paul Ryder's funeral which was attended by various musical luminaries including Peter Hook from New Order, Ian Brown from The Stone Roses and Ian McCulloch from Echo & The Bunnymen.

Bez is known to be very private about his personal life and does not even give out the names of his parents.

Lead singer of the Happy Mondays Shaun Ryder, appeared to blame his brother's death on the Covid vaccine.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Ryder said: "It's a bit iffy to me – he's a 50-something-year-old bloke, he'd had a clean bill of health, and he has his booster, flies over here and dies."

He added: "I don't think our kid really paid attention to any of that (scare stories about Covid jabs) he just went and had his booster – I think that triggered something."

The coroner denied this and said Paul Ryder died of ischaemic heart disease and diabetes.

The Happy Mondays were originally formed in 1980 and signed to Factory Records which were also responsible for fellow Manchester bands Joy Division and New Order.

The band originally split in 1993 after the flop of Yes Please! which bankrupted their record label but have continued to perform live since 1999.

Watch below: Happy Mondays star Paul Ryder dies suddenly aged 58 hours before show.