b. 20 February 1963, Warrington, Cheshire, England. Formerly the lead vocalist with seminal UK indie rock outfit the Stone Roses, few expected Brown to launch a viable solo career following the bad-natured disintegration of the former band. Brown learned to play various instruments before beginning work on his self-produced and self-financed debut album at Chiswick Reach Studios in London. Using a primitive all-valve desk, the recording process took only three weeks. Brown was assisted by former Stone Roses members Aziz Ibrahim, Reni and Mani, with additional help from keyboard player Nigel Ippinson, drummer Simon Moore and vocalist Denise Johnson. Brown signed a recording contract with Polydor Records on the understanding that the album would be released in its original unadorned, demo quality state. The label's faith in the artist was rewarded when "My Star" debuted at UK number 5 in January 1998, and Unfinished Monkey Business entered the UK album chart at number 4 in February. Critical reaction was muted, however, with the album's rough charm offset by the absence of any truly strong material.
Brown's resurrection suffered a setback when he was charged with a public order offence at Manchester airport, following an incident on a flight from Paris on 13 February. With a court case hanging over him, Brown released the follow-up singles "Corpses" (number 14, April 1998) and "Can't See Me' (number 21, June 1998). Brown was given a four-month custodial sentence following his conviction in October, but was released in December. He celebrated with a guest lead vocal on U.N.K.L.E."s "Be There", which reached the UK Top 10 in February 1999. He subsequently returned to the studio to record material for his second solo collection, Golden Greats, which included the UK Top 5 single, "Dolphins Were Monkeys". Brown confirmed his status as the most musically committed ex-Stone Roses member with his third solo album in September 2001. Adventurous and clever, Music Of The Spheres was a giant step forward in terms of musical maturity, with Brown seemingly aiming to attract a new type of fan with excellent material such as "Northern Lights", "Hear No See No" and "F.E.A.R.".
After filming a brief cameo in Harry Potter And The Prisoner Of Azkaban (reading Stephen Hawking's A Brief History Of Time in The Leaky Cauldron at the start of the movie), Brown set about completing recording work on his fourth studio album. In July, shortly before the release of Solarized, Brown surprised an audience at an outdoor show in Claremont, Esher, by playing almost an hour's worth of Stone Roses material. It was the first time the singer had played any of his former band's songs in entirety since performing an acoustic version of "Sally Cinnamon" in Japan in 1997. He remained vociferous in his opposition to idle speculation in the press regarding any Stone Roses reunion, however, and forged on with his solo career. The 2007 release The string-laden and mantric The World Is Yours featured musical input from members of the Smiths and Happy Mondays, and two guest vocals from Sinéad O'Connor.
