HAPPY MONDAYS - RYDER: 'MUSIC SAVED MY LIFE'

RYDER: 'MUSIC SAVED MY LIFE'

HAPPY MONDAYS frontman SHAUN RYDER has credited his musical career with saving his life. The singer, who has battled with severe drug addiction, believes he would have died if he hadn't become a musician - as many of his childhood pals in Manchester, England were shot dead or fell prey to overdoses. He says, "To be quite honest, there's a big thing about this. There's more of a chance I'd have been a dead junkie if I hadn't gone into the music business. "Where I grew up, a lot of the kids got shot dead or dumped in the f**kin' pond. They were assaulted or died of drug overdoses and s**t like that. Music gave me a life and I had it easy compared to a lot of those kids."