Happy Mondays’ Shaun Ryder has been accused of punching female bandmate Rowetta.
The singer, 59, made the allegation in a series of posts on X claiming the blow from the frontman left her with a black eye and ‘knocked me out’ in front of her son.
In a jawdropping message posted on Saturday she claimed: ‘When I speak about Happy Mondays and it will always be true.
‘I’m not a liar Shaun Ryder punched me, knocked me out & there were lots of witnesses & my son had to see me with a black eye! Don’t call me a liar threatening with defamation! Should have called the cops!’
She added: ‘I have said nothing for years.
‘They should be thanking me for keeping it quiet and not calling the cops instead of calling me a liar and threatening me with legal. And I’m no servant.’
Rowetta left Happy Mondays after 34 years in December after it was announced band member Bez’s wife Firouzeh would be taking over on vocals.
In a statement given to The Sun, Ryder’s representatives said the frontman was ‘shocked and dismayed’ by Rowetta’s claim ‘which is particularly hurtful as it comes from someone who, until she left the Happy Mondays at the end of last year, was an important member of their family’.
‘For more than 25 years Rowetta was treated with love and respect by the band, its crew and representatives,’ they said.
‘Given her claim however, Shaun has had no choice other than to place the matter in the hands of his lawyers.’
has contacted Ryder and Rowetta’s representatives for comment.
Rowetta’s abrupt departure from band was announced in December on Happy Mondays’ official Instagram account as well as the former X Factor contestant’s personal grid.
The statement read: ‘Happy Mondays and Rowetta announce that Rowetta will no longer be performing with the band. Happy Mondays thank Rowetta for her services and wish her all the best for the future’.
Rowetta then wrote: ‘Really looking forward to the New Year & sharing some amazing news with you all. Thanks for all the love through the years, means the world’.
The songstress first joined the group, alongside original members Ryder, Bez and late bassist Paul Ryder in 1990, and appeared on top 5 track Step On, as well as albums Pills ‘n’ Thrills and Bellyaches and Yes Please!.
But her time in the band has not been plain sailing and a bitter feud resulted in her and frontman Shaun not speaking for a number of years, before finally burying the hatchet.
She told The Mirror in 2023: ‘We didn’t speak for a long time, myself and Shaun. So now we’re getting on really, really better than ever.
‘Because I think it does help when you’re going through your problems and you do fall out, and you’re falling out over nothing sometimes, that if you have a break.
‘The last gig we did, we smiled, myself and Sean, we smiled the whole way through.’
In 2004 Rowetta appeared on talent show The X Factor where she was mentored by Simon Cowell and made it all the way to the semi finals.