‘It explains why drugs made me feel normal’: Shaun Ryder on ADHD diagnosis
Shaun Ryder is talking TV. As one of Gogglebox’s resident celebrity armchair critics, alongside partner in crime Bez, he’s happy commentating on the small screen.
The X Factor (RIP) had its place for family viewing, he reckons – it’s good if you “sound like Frank Sinatra and can do a dance”, although he knows Happy Mondays “wouldn’t have made it through auditions” – but he has no patience for Love Island: “I can’t watch a load of adults with minds of babies.”
Ryder also keeps up with the news, especially in the 18 months since COVID-19 first hit. “The problem is, though, I don’t retain stuff, like that’s just on and done, so I’ve got to be constantly told what’s going on. Otherwise, it’s just gone.”
Ryder and his Happy Mondays bandmate Bez are now favourites on Channel 4’s Gogglebox
At 58, Ryder now, finally, has discovered the reason for his short attention span, previously blamed on his well-documented years of excess as the Madchester era’s most recognisable party animal. He was diagnosed with ADHD earlier this year, which was “like a light bulb going on” in his brain.
“It explains everything,” he says in that unmistakable Mancunian accent. “I went and got tested because out of my four daughters I had two that had [been] diagnosed with ADHD. My youngest girl was finding difficulty with the education side of things and everything. And then I went and got tested and it’s all come from me.
“But as soon as I got the result… one, it told me why my life’s been so chaotic, you know, why I didn’t learn the alphabet till I was 28 years old. Why I find things like just paying bills difficult and lots of other stuff… why as a young man, a young kid, you know, when I took drugs, I felt normal. I didn’t feel like my underpants was on back to front, you know? I felt like I was in my own skin.”
ADHD is not the only diagnosis Ryder has received recently, having caught COVID-19 in the early stages of the pandemic in 2020. He thinks he is suffering from long COVID, although it is getting better. “I’d be guaranteed once or twice a week I’d go completely under and have to go to bed, but over the months and months now that’s got less and less,” he says. “I’ve not had another episode for quite a few months now but I do still get one every now and then I’ll just end up floored.”
He pauses before adding: “I could breathe, though. Main thing with me is I’ve got a fixation about breathing, so as long as I could breathe, it was all right… yeah, it’s not a good idea not to breathe, is it?”
Ryder has also had to deal with his hair falling out, the result of a change in his treatment for an underactive thyroid a few years ago. Now, it looks like it’s starting to grow back. “No, that’s a tattoo!” he says. “That’s called skin pigmentation, that, so are my eyebrows, same thing.”
Ryder rose to fame with the Happy Mondays (pictured) and went on to form Black Grape (below), and is still going strong with both bands. Pics: Paul Husband
The doctor told him the reason for losing his hair was stress, he says. “But to me, I’ve been the least stressful in the whole of my life.”
He certainly seems content, and has long extolled the virtues of clean living after his years of taking heroin and other drugs. He is still working with the Happy Mondays and his second band, Black Grape, and is also just about to release a solo album, Visits From Future Technology, which comes almost 20 years after his first, Amateur Night In The Big Top, which was released in 2003.
The songs on this album were actually written years ago, before he reinvented himself in the I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! Jungle in 2010, and then put on the shelf while he continued to build on the nation’s newfound appreciation. During lockdown they were discovered “down the back of a sofa” and he decided to do something with them. Did he have to rewrite much to bring them up to date?
Not really, he says. “I mean, I’m always writing about the same old crap. I write about the same stuff I did back in ’88, which is like anything, madness, what I see on television, or conversations with people, or escapades that Bez gets up to and, you know, all the same stuff that I’ve wrote about for years, really. Nothing really changes in my mind. I’ve got about a million things going on at once, they all get to come out in songs.”
Fittingly, the first single is called Mumbo Jumbo. There’s also a track called Popstars Daughters, which is a tongue in cheek warning, he says. “A long time ago when I was a good looking young pop star – I could have been called a pop star, I don’t suppose now – but I’ve got four daughters, and I’ve also dated a couple of pop stars’ daughters, so… the song really I wrote for my girls is a bit of a tongue in cheek sort of thing.”
Ryder has been collaborating with artists including Noel Gallagher during the pandemic. Pic: AP
As well as his solo work, he’s also been collaborating with artists including Noel Gallagher and Robbie Williams during lockdown, which “kept me busy”. He’s enjoyed his time at home, though.
“I know people have had a really bad time and people [have been] locked up on the 24th floor of the tower blocks and that, but I had an all right, er, lock up… what was it called again, when we all stopped doing it? Lockdown, yeah! I had a pretty all right lockdown. I haven’t spent that amount of time at home in the last 25 years. I got to spend a lot of time with the wife and the kids and the family.”
But now Ryder, and his family – “they’ve had enough of me now” – are ready for live gigs once again. He has a tour with Black Grape coming up and later plans to tour the solo record; the singer is double jabbed and ready to go, he says.
How does he feel about the idea of vaccine passports potentially being needed for nightclubs and gigs? “Whatever [the government] is gonna do they’ve got to do it quick and it needs doing now, whatever they’re going to do,” he says. “There’s no reason why it’s… if we’re all supposed to be vaccined up and everything then they should be opening up, stop messing about, open everything up.”
He thinks the government’s handling of the pandemic has been “a bit of hit and miss” but “I suppose whatever government would be in power, they wouldn’t have got it right, straight away”.
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On the Matt Hancock affair scandal, he laughs. “Well, what’s new there? It’s always been one law for one lot of people and another law for another lot of people. I wouldn’t expect anything else.”
Ryder has performed two shows already since restrictions lifted, one with Happy Mondays and one with Black Grape, which were great, he says. Some people chose to wear masks, others didn’t. No one was “mithered about anybody else”. He has plans in place for touring and making music over the next few years at least. “I don’t have hobbies,” he says. “I get asked what my hobbies are and my hobby is making music and playing music and being involved.”
The only thing that will stop Ryder, he says, is “doing a Tommy Cooper or whatever”. (Cooper died on stage live on television in 1984). “Look at all the ones that I grew up with, like the Stones and Tom Jones and all those guys, and The Who and Roger Daltrey. I mean, Roger Daltrey is fit as a butcher’s dog. You seen him? If you enjoy what you do you don’t stop, you just do it.”
So that’s the plan for Shaun Ryder, along with Gogglebox and his other ventures, which continue to see him living his best life, reinvented as a national treasure. How does he feel about the term?
“Well, you know…” For just a brief moment he seems lost for words. “It’s better than n**head, isn’t it? So, you know… I can live with it.”
Entertainment
Ozzy Osbourne is given final tour of Birmingham – with thousands of fans flooding streets to pay their respects
Ozzy Osbourne has taken his final tour of Birmingham – with his family experiencing the love of thousands of fans who turned out to see the heavy metal star come home.
“We love you, Ozzy!” came the shouts from the crowd as his cortege stopped at Black Sabbath Bridge in the city, a site that has become a shrine to the performer since his death at 76 last week.
His family and loved ones, including his wife Sharon Osbourne and their children Jack, Kelly and Aimee, spent several minutes taking in all the flowers, messages and other tributes left in an outpouring of love from fans.
Jack, Sharon and Kelly Osbourne laid flowers. Pic: PA
Sharon was in tears as she took it all in. Supported by her children, she gave a peace sign to the crowd before returning to the procession vehicles.
Each family member carried a pink rose, wrapped in black paper, tied with a purple ribbon – the traditional Black Sabbath colours. The flowers bearing his name in the hearse were also purple.
Before reaching the city centre, the cortege had travelled past Ozzy’s childhood home in Aston. Just a few weeks ago, he was on stage at Villa Park performing his final gig alongside many of the musicians his music had inspired, from Metallica to Guns N’ Roses to Yungblud.
Heavy metal, reality TV and biting bats: Ozzy Osbourne obituary
Tributes to Ozzy can be seen all over Birmingham. Pic: Reuters
On a hugely emotional day, his presence could be felt throughout the city, with the star’s music playing in pubs and posters paying tribute: “Birmingham will always love you.”
For fans, this was a chance to say not just goodbye, but also thank you to a star who never forgot where he came from. His remarkable achievements from humble beginnings and continued love for his hometown, even when he lived thousands of miles away in Los Angeles, meant that for many, the loss feels incredibly personal.
The Black Sabbath Bridge has become a shrine in recent days. Pic: Reuters
‘The Prince of Laughter – not Darkness’
Graham Wright, a roadie who worked with Black Sabbath in the 1970s and beyond, up to the Back To The Beginning reunion gig at Villa Park, told Sky News he would remember Ozzy not by his traditional nickname, the Prince of Darkness – but as the Prince of Laughter instead.
“It was a shock he left us so soon after [the show],” he said. “The show was tough for him but he was determined to say goodbye to his fans, that was the main thing. It was important for all four of [Black Sabbath] to get back together and do a farewell.
“The tears will be flowing today to see the Ozz man – the Prince of Laughter, not Darkness. He really was. We’ll all miss him.”
Pic: Reuters
‘My mum used to say he was a lovely boy’
Chris Mason, general manager of The Brasshouse pub, which is next to Black Sabbath Bridge, said music by the band and Ozzy’s solo material had been played pretty much “on loop” since his death.
“I’m a metal fan and Ozzy being the godfather of the scene – if not for Ozzy and Black Sabbath, we wouldn’t have heavy metal,” he said. “This is what Birmingham is about, bringing people together, and Ozzy and Black Sabbath did that.
“He was Mr Birmingham and his family have brought him back.”
Mohabbat Ali, who used to live on the same street as Ozzy’s childhood home, said the property had become one of the focal points for tributes in the city.
Describing what it was like living near him, he said: “He played guitars, very loud at night sometimes, but my mum used to say he was a lovely boy.”
From an era of preening rock gods, Ozzy was the real deal
The sea of black was always a given – but this wasn’t about respecting funeral traditions. Ozzy himself had previously said he wanted his send-off, when it came, to be a celebration and not a “mope-fest”.
This was his final tour in the city that meant so much to him.
For fans, he meant so much to them.
For his family, the emotion was raw.
Sharon, his soulmate, has spent her life and career organising his shows, and it was clear how hard this day was for her.
After they left, fans flooded the streets to lay flowers.
Not since David Bowie has an artist’s death prompted such an outpouring of emotion. From an era of preening rock gods, Ozzy was the real deal – one of the most notorious figures in rock, but a man who remained as Brummie as can be.
‘A true legend who never forgot his roots’
Birmingham’s lord mayor, Councillor Zafar Iqbal, also attended the procession and spoke of the city’s pride in Ozzy.
“What a great honour for us to have him here one last time,” he said. “The love for Ozzy – well, you can feel it in the air.”
The star put both Aston and Birmingham on the map, he said, and always took the time to get to know people.
Mr Iqbal said Ozzy sent him a letter after reading on the mayor’s website biography how he had struggled with dyslexia at school – something the star identified with.
“I’ve got the letter in a frame and it’s in my office… he was just a natural human being, down to earth. You wouldn’t have known he was a rock star – but he was a true legend, who never forgot his roots.”
Disgraced hip hop mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs has asked a judge to release him on a $50m bond as he waits to be sentenced for prostitution-related offences.
Combs’s lawyer has argued that conditions at the Metropolitan Detention Centre in Brooklyn are dangerous and noted that others convicted of similar offences were typically released before sentencing.
“Sean Combs should not be in jail for this conduct,” Marc Agnifilo said in a court filing on Tuesday.
“In fact, he may be the only person currently in a United States jail for being any sort of John, and certainly the only person in jail for hiring adult male escorts for him and his girlfriend.”
A “John” in the US is a slang term for somebody who hires a prostitute.
A spokesperson for the US attorney’s office in Manhattan did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Prosecutors have previously insisted he remains a flight risk and should therefore not be granted bail.
The 55-year-old, one of the most influential hip-hop producers of all time, faces up to a decade in prison after he was convicted earlier this month of two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution.
The charges relate to how he flew people around the US, including his girlfriends and male sex workers, for sexual encounters.
Read more:
The rise and fall of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs
What it was like in court for start of P Diddy trial
Combs knelt at his chair and appeared to pray after the verdicts
Combs was cleared of three more serious charges – two for sex trafficking and one for racketeering conspiracy – following his landmark trial in New York.
A conviction on one of those charges could have put him in prison for life.
Immediately after he was acquitted of those charges on 2 July, Mr Agnifilo had asked that Combs be released on bond.
But Judge Arun Subramanian denied it, saying Combs at the time had not met the burden of showing by clear and convincing evidence a “lack of danger to any person or the community”.
Combs is the latest celebrity inmate to be locked up at MDC Brooklyn, the only federal jail in New York City, joining a list that includes R Kelly, Ghislaine Maxwell and cryptocurrency fraudster Sam Bankman-Fried.
Ozzy Osbourne fans will be able to say goodbye to the heavy metal pioneer at a procession for his cortege through his home city of Birmingham tomorrow.
The star’s hearse will make its way down Broad Street towards the Black Sabbath bridge and bench – where thousands of fans have left flowers, messages and other tributes since his death.
Osbourne, 76, died less than three weeks after performing his “final bow” in the city – the Back The Beginning reunion with his Sabbath bandmates at Villa Park, which raised about £140m for charity.
Ozzy Osbourne on stage at Villa Park just a few weeks before his death. Pic: Reuters
Large crowds are expected to gather tomorrow as fans pay their respects to the performer who shaped heavy metal music and “proudly carried the spirit of Birmingham throughout his career”, the city council said.
Members of Osbourne’s family will also be in attendance and have funded the event, the council added.
“Ozzy was more than a music legend – he was a son of Birmingham,” said the city’s lord mayor, Councillor Zafar Iqbal. “We know how much this moment will mean to his fans. We’re proud to host it here with his loving family in the place where it all began.”
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The life of Ozzy Osbourne
Mr Iqbal said it was important to the city to give the star “a fitting, dignified tribute ahead of a private family funeral”.
Osbourne and his Black Sabbath bandmates Terence “Geezer” Butler, Tony Iommi and Bill Ward were awarded the Freedom of the City in June, before the Back To The Beginning show, honouring their “significance to the cultural and musical identity of Birmingham”.
The star’s cortege will travel down Broad Street from about 1pm tomorrow, accompanied by a live brass band, Bostin’ Brass. For those not able to make it, a live stream of the Black Sabbath bench, which has been running since Osbourne’s death, will continue.
There is also a book of condolence for public messages at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery, alongside the Ozzy Osbourne Working Class Hero exhibition, highlighting his solo career achievements.
Metal, bats, and reality TV: The wild life of Ozzy Osbourne
Osbourne, the self-styled Prince of Darkness, pioneered heavy metal with Black Sabbath before going on to have huge success in his own right. He was famous for hits including Iron Man, Paranoid, War Pigs, Crazy Train and Changes, both with the band and as a solo star.
The singer also found a different kind of fame thanks to noughties MTV reality show The Osbournes, which followed his somewhat chaotic life with wife Sharon and two of their children, Kelly and Jack.
Following his death, his family released a statement saying he died alongside them, “surrounded by love”.
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