The Stone Roses to headline T in the Park
The Stone Roses have today been confirmed as headliners at the T in the Park festival in Scotland next year.
The band announced last month that they were to reform for a series of live shows and set a record by selling 220,000 tickets for three outdoor dates in Manchester in little over an hour.
They announced today via their website that they will headline T in the Park, as well as topping the bill at the Benicassim Festival and the Fuji Rock Festival.
T in the Park 2012 takes place in Balado, Kinross, between July 6 and 8 with the festival organiser DF Concerts yet to confirm which night The Stone Roses will appear.
Geoff Ellis, festival director at T in the Park, said: "The Stone Roses are one of the most influential bands of all time.
"To have them headline T in the Park is a dream come true as most people never thought they would see the band perform together ever again.
"The atmosphere will be electric when these boys go onstage and I, for one, absolutely cannot wait."
Band members had long dismissed talk of ever getting back together after falling apart in 1996.
But they buried their differences and announced hometown shows for next summer, plus further dates around the world.
Guitarist John Squire said he and singer Ian Brown met at the funeral of bass player Gary "Mani" Mounfield's mother.
"When me and Ian met by chance it changed everything. In some ways it felt like 15 years ago was yesterday," he said.
Brown said: "Our plan is to take on the world."
Drummer Alan "Reni" Wren, who dropped out of the music world after leaving the band in 1995, joked: "If anyone buys a ticket."
The band have already begun rehearsals and are working on new material.
"It's not a trip down memory lane. We are doing new songs," Brown said.
Mani said: "There's something magical happens when us four are in a room together. You can't put your finger on it. It's just so beautiful to get hold of it again. Missed it, you know."
The band was fondly remembered for a self-titled first album, released in 1989, which is widely seen as one of the greatest debuts of all time. But it took five years to provide a follow-up and tensions led first to Reni, then Squire, quitting in 1995.
A limited release of tickets for the 19th T in the Park will go on general sale at 9am on Friday December 2.
