2026-02-24 12:07:20
Happy Mondays star Shaun Ryder believes we’re all living in a “human zoo”.
The 63-year-old rocker reckons Earth isn’t quite what it seems and claims aliens have been meddling with humanity for centuries.
He told Mojo magazine: “Since I was a fing little kid I’ve always thought this ain’t our fing planet, it’s an experiment in a f***ing zoo.”
The singer believes humans have been “tampered with” and “intelligently designed”, suggesting extraterrestrials have had a guiding hand in shaping life as we know it.
Shaun – who has previously spoken about alleged UFO encounters – added that while he hasn’t seen one “for a good couple of years”, there was a time when they were “really f***ing about” with him.
He admitted that period could just as easily have been a “hallucinogenic, mad breakdown” during his notoriously wild years.
“Anyway, I’ve f***ing been there, tuned into Radio Gaga. Now I’m Radio Straight-head,” he joked.
The Black Grape star has long been open about his hellraising past, but says those days are firmly behind him.
“When I hit 40 it was just time to grow up, to knock all the madness on the head,” he explained.
Now sober and settled, Shaun says he’s catching up on indie tracks he missed during the chaos of the 1990s.
“It’s funny, I listen to ’90s radio when we’re driving about. I’m hearing stuff from the ’90s for the first time.”
His teenage children, aged 18 and 17, have never known the wild version of their dad.
Looking to the future, Shaun also wants to leave a lasting mark on his beloved Manchester.
Inspired by how The Beatles statues draw crowds to Liverpool, he believes interactive monuments to hometown heroes could boost his city too.
He explained: “We don’t do statues in Manchester. I mean, statues of The Beatles bring people to Liverpool, don’t they?”
Shaun recently called for a statue in Manchester to honour late Stone Roses legend Mani.
Appearing on Absolute Radio show Bush and Richie on Hometime with his bandmate Bez, Shaun was asked by presenter Andy Bush if Mani should be honoured with a statue in Manchester.
Shaun responded: “Well, look, we haven’t got a statue for Tony Wilson yet. We’re not Liverpool where there’s (lots of) statues.
“You’ve got The Bee Gees in the Isle of Man, you’ve got Morecambe and Wise (Eric Morecambe) in Morecambe, you’ve got The Beatles statues in Liverpool. We don’t have statues. Manchester doesn’t do statues like that. There’s a call for Tony Wilson to be honoured like that but it’s not happening.
“It doesn’t take a big business brain to go, ‘Well, if we throw a few of these statues up like Mani and Andy Rourke or (Factor Records’) Martin Hannett, and stick them around central Manchester, they’re gonna bring in tourists who then go in your hotels.’”
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