NME 24th August 1996 Issue



THE STONE ROSES
Roses coming Reading or not






THE STONE ROSES' manager has angrily denied rumours that the band are contemplating pulling out of their headlining slot at this weekend's READING FESTIVAL, saying there was "no way" the band would not show up "barring injury".

Rumours have been rife in the music industry that the Roses might fail to perform as they have had so little time to rehearse with new guitarist Aziz Ibrahim, the replacement for John Squire, who many believed was the backbone of the band.

However, new manager Lewis Kovacs said the band played a string of dates throughout Europe over the past few weeks in preparation for their top-of-the-bill appearance on Sunday night, including Spain, Portugal and Hungary, and all had been "very well received".

He continued: "It's been going really well for them. They're really looking forward to Reading as it's major in the sense they want to show everybody that they're rocking.

"They're really pumped up and there's no way they'd pull out. Barring injury that won't happen. They're really, really excited and Aziz is fitting in really well."

When NME asked Kovacs if he would prevent band members from moutain biking (the Roses were forced to cancel their Glastonbury appearance in 1995 after John Squire fell off a bike in San Francisco and broke his collar bone) he retorted: "I would never ban them from doing anything, they're adults... management shouldn't ban artists from doing anything. They know what they've gotta do and they're professionals."






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