Ian George Brown (born 20 February 1963, Howley, Warrington, Cheshire) is an English musician and former lead singer of the alternative rock band The Stone Roses. He is widely considered by fans to be one of the pioneering members of the Madchester scene.

Since the band's acrimonious and prolonged break up in 1996, Brown has released five solo albums and twelve UK top 40 singles. He has appeared on several club tours and has performed at the Glastonbury Festival three times since 1998.

Brown is widely considered to be a very influential artist, as well as an enduring indie cult icon. His work from his early Stone Roses days, to the present day have provided inspiration for numerous hugely popular indie groups today. Oasis frontmen Liam and Noel Gallagher have cited on numerous occasions Ian's influence on the band, with Noel Gallagher recently quoting Brown's lyrics from Stone Roses track 'She Bangs the Drums' as 'my inspiration' for a recent HMV poster campaign. Sheffield indie icons Arctic Monkeys have also cited Brown as one of their biggest and most important influences, and have claimed that he is their "musical hero".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ian_Brown