Richard Ashcroft is back with a new single after a seven year hiatus of making music. He’s set to headline a festival this weekend before his supporting set to Oasis – let’s take a trip down memory lane
Richard Ashcroft penned some of the most iconic 90s alternative rock numbers, becoming a pioneer of early indie rock – but it wasn’t without any drama.
The frontman and founder of the Verve, famously known for upbeat melancholic hit ‘Bitter Sweet Symphony’, embarked on his solo career in 2000.
He’s mainly kept away from the limelight, staying away from press and living a mostly mysterious life. But, today (May 23), Richard has announced a brand new single for the first time in seven years – sending fans into a frenzy.
As Ashcroft is set to headline SMR 25 festival this bank holiday weekend and is due to support Oasis on their reunion tour in the summer, we take a look at some memorable moments.
From dubbing himself ‘one of the greatest singers’, to a Mick Jagger spat and live drama on Soccer AM – it hasn’t always been plane sailing.
‘Greatest singer in world’
Richard Ashcroft is widely seen as one of the best song writing legends to come out of the UK, since he found huge success with band the Verve.
He picked up a highly coveted Ivor Novello award for Songwriter of the Year in 1998, just a year before the band called it quits in 1999.
Ashcroft’s contributions continued when he started his solo career in 2000, where he later picked up another Ivor Novello gong in 2019 for Outstanding Contribution to British Music.
However, it looks like Richard was hardly humble about his talents.
During a show in Buenos Aired in 2016, Richard was not impressed with the speaker monitors. After finishing song ‘Lucky Man’ and being on the verge of his voice cracking, according to Far Out magazine, Richard entered an ego-fuelled monologue.
He said: “Next time you ask me to come to a gig, don’t ever provide me this piece of s***.
“I’m going to find you later on and I’m going to talk to you. Never fly me over to here, and present me with this.
“I’m one of the greatest singers in the f*cking world, alright?” The crowd apparently received it well, entering into cheers – not boos.
Well, he’s got plenty of awards and nominations to his name so we’ll let him off for his Brit Pop style stage rant.
‘Mick Jagger Lawsuit’
Richard Ashcroft is probably most known for penning Bitter Sweet Symphony for the Verve, often credited as being one of the most complex and moving songs that became relatable to many peoples lives.
It managed to land No 2 in the UK charts on its release in 1997 and continues to remain popular on alternative rock playlists, has featured in adverts and has lived a second life in TikTok trends.
However, Ashcroft’s meticulously crafted song – that could give anyone an existential crisis – caused him years of distress as he ended up embroiled in a lawsuit over credits and royalties with the Rolling Stones.
So, what happened? Well, the four distinctive strings heard at the beginning of the track were actually sampled by an orchestral recording that was sampled by ‘The Last Time’, Rolling Stones.
It turns out that the rights were not fully determined before Bitter Sweet Symphony was released in the late 90s. The publishing company ABKCO Records, that was owned by the Rolling Stones manager Allen Klein, claimed that the Verve used a larger sample than it had been agreed.
The spat was then turned up a notch with a lawsuit that was eventually settled out of court, with Ashcroft being forced to relinquish the royalties from Bitter Sweet Symphony.
He also had to create a new song writing credit, which read “Jagger/Richards/Ashcroft” – adding Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger and Keith Richards into the mix.
At the time, Ashcroft poked fun at the deal, where he said: “This is the best song Jagger and Richards have written in 20 years.”
The dispute would create a sour taste of the song that was a definitive tune of the mighty Brit Pop era in the 90s, with the spat lasting years.
It wasn’t until six years ago in 2019 when Ashcroft was handed back his hit song thanks to a “kind and magnanimous gesture” from both Jagger and Richards.
While accepting his Ivor Novello award for Outstanding Contribution to British Music, Ashcroft spoke on the rights being transferred solely back to him and expressed: “This remarkable and life-affirming turn of events was made possible by a kind and magnanimous gesture from Mick and Keith, who have also agreed that they are happy for the writing credit to exclude their names and all their royalties derived from the song they will now pass to me.”
‘Soccer AM suspicious object’
Ashcroft ventured into football land on Soccer AM back in 2018. In what was supposed to be a bit of fun, and one of his few TV appearances, quickly turned into a bit of a nightmare for the singer.
On the Sky Sports show, where he discussed the boxing and then the X Factor, a small sachet bag fell out of Ashcroft’s sock – while on live TV.
It was not clear what the plastic carrier was, but people speculated on Twitter (now X) at the time. This caused Ashcroft to publicly defend himself, where he accused the image to be doctored and rendered it “fake news.”
“I don’t know how many national publications printed a picture that someone had sent in from online,” he told LADBible at the time.
“It’s strange when you have been in the game this long that this idea would take place. But to see the effects of a doctored photograph by an individual, who we don’t know who it is.
“But believe you me, you are going to regret doing that, whoever you are.”
Ashcroft later insisted that he had not taken cocaine “in decades” as some Twitter trolls rumoured that the bag was connected with drug use.
He vehemently urged that it was just a bit of litter and in no way connected to drugs.
“Just a quick message to a couple of you trolls on Twitter who are making a name for yourselves out of me – and also people moralising and virtue signalling,” Ashcroft slammed in a video.
“Number one: Cocaine and I have had no relationship for decades. Number two: Don’t you ever surmise what has fallen out of my pocket. And, don’t bring my children into it.
“You’re on thin ice. Don’t libel my name. My dad didn’t like litter and I don’t really like litter. But it gets a bit preposterous in my pocket.
“In The Verve I was known as Colombo, so get your facts right. You’re on thin ice.
“Peace.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
