SELF-STYLED "Monkey Boy" Ian Brown should be in jubilant mood when he brings his UK tour to Southampton Guildhall on Sunday night.

Despite his current single, Whispers, bombing out of the charts, the singer must be in high spirits after beating Kylie to the Best Solo Artist Award in this week's NME Brat Awards.

As the frontman for the Stone Roses, Ian became a cult figure, recording classics like Fool's Gold, Love Spreads and I Am The Resurrection as well as inspiring a whole new raft of bands such as Primal Scream, Oasis and The Verve.

Ian's solo career is still a long way off the magic of the Stone Roses. He released his debut solo album, Unfinished Monkey Business, in 1998, followed by the anthemic Golden Greats a year later, with the current Music Of The Spheres bringing his album discography up to date. "The Roses should have made it as the biggest band since The Beatles, but we didn't," says Ian.

"But a band that did was put on to it by us, so that makes me feel great," says Ian, referring to Messrs Gallagher and Co. "There were about three weeks in 1989 when everyone loved us and no-one slagged us off," he remembers.

"I wasn't on stage to be worshipped or for people to look up to me. I was with the crowd. We started out to finish bands like U2 - that was what it was all about, and they're the biggest band in the world, so we failed."

* For tickets and information, call the box office on 023 8063 2601.

PAUL GREEN