A MUSICIAN who had the world at his feet has returned to the peace and quiet in his hometown of Warrington.

Ian Brown was front man for the decade's most inspirational band. The Stone Roses were the voice of the 'Madchester' generation, turning the music scene on its head and inspiring a million and one wannabes.

Almost nine years later, and following the collapse of the Roses, Ian Brown is back in the charts.

"I was born in Warrington and lived in Foster Street until I was about six," said Ian.

"We moved to Manchester and that's where I spent most of my life, but I've still got loads of aunties and uncles in the town," he said.

The rural idyll of Warrington's leafy village life drew him back.

"I came back here because I was sick of living in Manchester. I was getting burgled far too often and I just wanted the quiet life back in Warrington.

"I found a nice little house to settle down, and I'm usually here about once a week."

When the Cheshire countryside gets a little too quiet, there's always his apartment in Lower East Manhattan and Mexican girlfriend Fabiola to catch up with.

He admits that if it wasn't for his two children, he might not be living in England, but he's content with his lot.

In Warrington, he enjoys nights out at The World and he's been spotted in the Winwick Road Pizza Hut.

These days he says being 'mad for it' isn't everything, a fact which is lost on those who have followed in his footsteps.

"I never really lived the rock and roll lifestyle at all, that's not me," he said.

"Those people that do have to look at themselves hard. It's 1998 and those days of rock and roll living are gone."

As for his music, King Monkey as he's known, is happy to be back. His first solo effort 'My Star' soared into the charts at number three, and straight to Radio One's most wanted playlist.

An HMV survey of the top 100 albums of all time put The Stone Roses as the second most influential band ever, just behind the Beatles.

But places on a chart have no consequence, according to Brown: "It would've been nice to go in at number one but I knew it wouldn't happen. After all, the charts are just one big game and I'm not bothered about all that.

"I was just happy that people wanted to go out and buy the single nine months after I'd recorded it, and it still sounded fresh," he said.

With the new album, Unfinished Monkey Business, hitting the shops this week, and future collaborations in the pipeline, Ian Brown is back.

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.