Peter Hook: Last News

Andy Rourke has sadly passed away.

The Smiths bassist Andy Rourke has passed away after a battle with pancreatic cancer.

The Smiths bassist Andy Rourke has died following a battle with pancreatic cancer.

Today, Chapel Street is a feast for the senses.

New Order are celebrating 40 years of ‘Blue Monday’ with a range of special merchandise.The Manchester band took to Instagram earlier today (March 7) to post footage of the range inspired by their classic hit which includes two t-shirts, a hoodie, a long sleeved t-shirt, plus a pin badge and numbered lithograph.You can also purchase a 12-inch vinyl of the single for £14.99.You can view the footage of the merchandise below and find more information on their official website here.A post shared by New Order (@neworderofficial)It comes just weeks after the band released a new ‘Blue Monday’-themed t-shirt in support of mental health charity CALM.New Order said of the shirt at the time: “We are proud to be ambassadors for CALM and honoured to be using ‘Blue Monday’ to help raise awareness for the brilliant work they do to support millions of people struggling with their mental health.”Speaking to NME about the recording classic track, which went on to become the best-selling 12-inch single of all time, former bassist Peter Hook said: “It was actually quite shocking to realise what these new machines could do – you were always in awe of them.”Drummer Stephen Morris added: “We got all this new musical equipment and just learned how it worked. Writing ‘Blue Monday’ was an exercise in learning what we could do with it all.”Meanwhile, Primavera Sound Festival announced New Order as its final headliner for its 2023 line-up earlier today.The 2023 instalment of the festival, which will take place in both Barcelona and Madrid, will see the Manchester legends perform at the former’s Parc del Fòrum on June 1 and at the and at the latter’s Ciudad del Rock in Arganda del Rey on June 8.

Smashing Pumpkins enlisted the help of Peter Hook for a cover of the latter’s former band Joy Division‘s ‘No Love Lost’ to close out their headlining set at their The World Is A Vampire festival in Mexico this past weekend.Hook – who was also on the line-up with his band Peter Hook and The Lights – had been a member of Joy Division from 1976 till 1978. Hook started off the performance by thanking Billy Corgan and the rest of the band for taking care of his son and Smashing Pumpkins bassist Jeff Bates.Watch the performance below.Hook last teamed up with his son and other members of Smashing Pumpkins in March 2021 when he unveiled a new version of Joy Division’s classic track ‘Ceremony’, featuring Bates on bass duty and Pumpkins’ Jeff Schroeder on guitar.Smashing Pumpkins most recently released ‘Act II’ of their new rock opera ‘ATUM’ in February.

Ian Brown played a homecoming Manchester gig this weekend (September 30), and dedicated the set to late Happy Mondays bassist Paul Ryder.Brown is currently on his first UK headline tour in a decade, and played the O2 Victoria Warehouse in his hometown on Friday night.As reported by the Manchester Evening News, Brown told the crowd: “I just want to dedicate tonight’s set to one of the greatest human beings I ever met. Let’s hear it for Mr Paul Ryder.”Ryder passed away on July 15 at the age of 58.

Peter Hook has said there should be a permanent memorial to Ian Curtis in Manchester following the removal of a mural to the late Joy Division musician.Earlier this week, a advertisement for Manchester rapper Aitch was placed over a much loved mural of Curtis in the city’s Northern Quarter. Aitch said he would “fix” the issue saying he had no idea that the advertisement was being placed over the mural.The mural, based on a photo of Curtis taken by Philippe Carly, was painted by Manchester street artist Akse P19.

Aitch has promised that he and his team are attempting to make things right after a mural of late Joy Division frontman Ian Curtis, which had been a fan-favourite landmark in his hometown of Manchester, was painted over with an advertisement for Aitch’s forthcoming debut album.Late on Tuesday (August 16), the rapper retweeted an image of the mural – located on Port Street in Manchester’s Northern Quarter – being painted over, saying he had been previously unaware of his album ad being put there. “I don’t just choose locations for billboards, this is the first time I’ve seen it myself.

Echo and The Bunnymen’s Ian McCulloch has sung at Happy Mondays’ Paul Ryder’s funeral.Ryder, who was the bassist of the Happy Mondays and brother of frontman Shaun, died last month at the age of 58.Posting the news on social media, the band wrote: “The Ryder family and Happy Mondays band members are deeply saddened and shocked to say that Paul Ryder passed away this morning. A true pioneer and legend. He will be forever missed.”Alan McGee, who was in attendance at the service, described it as an “amazing send off” and recalled how he spoke at the beginning of the funeral, which took place in Manchester yesterday (August 4).

Some of the biggest names in Manchester’s music scene were amongst those in attendance at the funeral of Happy Mondays ’ guitarist Paul Ryder today.

the Featured Artists Coalition (FAC) announced a new directory highlighting music venues that charge zero commission on the sale of merchandise. The ‘100% Venues’ database aimed to address the “outdated and unfair” practice of performance spaces taking a cut of acts’ merch proceeds at gigs.Now, the FAC have told NME that over 400 venues have now signed up, but a number of the UK’s large arenas and venue groups are still not part of the database.Along with former Joy Division and New Order bassist Peter Hook, The Charlatans’ Tim Burgess has been one of the more vocal supporters of the campaign.

Peter Hook and the Manchester Camerata have announced two ‘The Sound Of Joy Division Orchestrated’ UK concerts in the autumn.Hook collaborated with the chamber orchestra back in 2019 for a trio of gigs, including a show at the Royal Albert Hall in London, which saw the musicians “revisit the post punk elements that shaped Joy Division’s ground-breaking sound, aligned with a full orchestra to reflect and respect the spirt which defines their heritage”.‘The Sound Of Joy Division Orchestrated’ will return with shows at the O2 Apollo Manchester on October 14 and London Palladium the following night (October 15).Tickets are on sale now and can be purchased here.“Covid has given these events strange timings, but after touring and playing Joy Division normally shall we say, I am looking forward to this new working more than ever. It takes JD’s music to a whole different place, emotionally and aurally.

New Order, first opened its doors in a former yacht warehouse on Whitworth Street West in May 1982. It closed in 1997, and was demolished in 2002 to make way for The Haçienda Apartments.As the Manchester Evening News reports, the 40th anniversary rave will take place in the apartments’ basement car park, where the original Haçienda’s dancefloor once stood.The MEN adds that residents of the Haçienda apartments have been invited to join the celebrations, which will take place on May 21.

A huge rave to celebrate the 40th anniversary of Manchester's legendary nightclub the Hacienda is being planned - in a basement car park at the site of where it all began. The party is being planned in the car park of the Hacienda apartments on Whitworth Street West, where the original club once stood.

Peter Hook helped unveil a new mural of Joy Division bandmate Ian Curtis in Macclesfield town centre this afternoon (March 26).The bassist and co-founder of New Order cut the ribbon alongside Akse, the Manchester-based street artist who painted the mural, telling those in attendance: “I am actually very honoured to be here, and to do this, because to me it’s about time Ian came home.”The mural, funded by Cheshire East Council, is based on an original photograph taken by Kevin Cummins at The Factory/Russell Club in Hulme, Manchester on 13 July 1979. It adorns a building on Mill Street opposite Macclesfield bus station.Ahead of the unveiling, Curtis said earlier in the week: “I’m watching all the people going down the street and every single one of them is drawn to it.“Some young kids walking down had no idea who he was but now they do. Hopefully they’ll listen to the music and get the gist of what we were trying to do as kids.”Some of Akse’s other recent works include murals of the late British army officer and fundraiser Captain Tom Moore and Manchester United footballer Marcus Rashford.He said it was an honour to paint the portrait of Curtis and hoped local people were excited about it.“Although I’ve been working on murals most of my life, it’s still always an incredible feeling to get to the end of the journey – well the end of my journey at least,” Akse said.

Peter Hook has discussed the Joy Division biopic Control in an Ask Me Anything session on Reddit, calling it “TOO accurate”.The film was directed by Anton Corbijn, who worked closely with the band as a photographer, and was released in 2007.A fan on the Joy Division subreddit asked Hook what he thought about the movie and whether he thought it gave an accurate portrayal of his former band. “To be honest it was TOO accurate!” the bassist replied.“I recognised my ex-bandmates very well in the film. Anton knew us very well and schooled the actors religiously to capture all of our little quirks.

Peter Hook, the ‘100% Venues’ database aims to address the “outdated and unfair” practice of performance spaces charging acts a commission to sell their merch at gigs.“When fans buy merchandise from artists that they love, they want and expect that their money will go to supporting that artist,” the FAC explained, adding that the relationship between acts and venues is “essential and inseparable”.It states that the sale of official merch is “one of the key revenue sources” for musicians, and has launched the new directory “to ensure the current system is made fairer for touring artists”.Venue bosses can sign up by completing a one-minute form, with the FAC also encouraging acts to share the spreadsheet with their fanbase and the wider music community. You can find more information here.“Using a collective voice will be the way to promote change which will subsequently support live artists in the future,” the FAC wrote.

The Charlatans’ Tim Burgess and former New Order member Peter Hook have spoken out about venues that take an unfair cut of merch sales, with Burgess saying “​​the whole system needs addressing”.On Thursday (December 9), Burgess took to Twitter to pay “big respect to those venues that don’t take a percentage of a band’s merch sales”.“This isn’t about The Charlatans,” he explained. “It’s about those bands who need merch income to survive.

Haçienda Classical returns to Castlefield Bowl this weekend for what is set to be one huge musical party night in the city.