80s Music Central News

Former Stone Roses singer Ian Brown has been sentenced to four months in jail for threatening a British Airways airline pilot and stewardess on a flight from Paris to Manchester last February. According to British press reports, the stewardess had been serving duty free goods when she mistakenly thought Brown had waved her over. She then realized he was actually just putting something in his pocket. She apologized with another wave, at which point Brown complained and threatened to cut off her hands for waving at him. She testified that he kept up the abuse by pointing his finger and using a menacing tone. The captain intervened and Brown repeated the threat. An argument ensued, and after the pilot returned to the cabin to land the plane, Brown got up and spent 20 to 30 seconds pounding on the door as the plane approached the Manchester airport. The pilot radioed ahead and arranged to have Brown arrested after the plane landed. Brown, 35, fronted the Stone Roses, one of the most popular groups in the country, from their late '80s inception to their demise in 1996, which followed a steady exodus of band members including mainstay John Squire who left to form the Seahorses.