The Stone Roses will release their first new music in more than two decades tonight.
The Manchester band, who are set to headline shows in the city and T in the Park later this year, have not released new music since the mid-1990s.
Posters featuring the band’s lemon logo appeared across Manchester ahead of the announcement – signalling to fans that big news was imminent.
The Stone Roses are to release a new single (Yui Mok/PA)
And on Thursday they simply tweeted:
THE STONE ROSES WILL RELEASE A NEW SINGLE TONIGHT AT 8PM pic.twitter.com/oHYrmgwYYE
— The Stone Roses (@thestoneroses) May 12, 2016
A spokeswoman for the band would not give any further details on the single, including how or in what format the single will be released.
Colin White, owner of Vinyl Revival record shop in Hilton Street, said a poster had been put up outside his store on Tuesday and excitement had been building.
Ian Brown of The Stone Roses performs on stage (Ryan Phillips/PA)
The 48-year-old, who counts himself among their fans, said: “Roses fans are coming in and saying, ‘Have you heard the news?’ I’ve had lots of people coming in and they were really excited.
“I’m excited but I’m hoping it’s going to be something a bit better than the ordinary.
“I had been told they would be trying out new stuff at the gigs.
“They are geniuses at keeping things quiet.”
Fronted by Ian Brown, the four-piece are often hailed as the inspiration for a generation of bands.
Stone Roses singer Ian Brown on stage in 2001 (James Arnold/PA Archive/Press Association Images)
The Stone Roses made a triumphant comeback in 2012, having announced in 2011 that they were reforming after an acrimonious split 15 years earlier.
The reunion was one which many fans thought would never happen after their bitter fall-out.
They had long met rumours of a revival with assurances that the band would not reform.
But they eventually buried the hatchet in 2011, agreeing a series of festival dates and a three-night stint topping the bill at their own mini-festival in Manchester’s Heaton Park.
The show was the band’s first large-scale show in the UK since the group fell apart in 1996.
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here