THE road from Mancunian iconoclast as leader with the Stone Roses to successful solo artist has been easier for Ian Brown than some may have imagined.

After the disintegration of one of the most influential bands of the past 15 years, many would have thought it impossible for the excitement that surrounded their music to be recreated.

But after three award-winning albums and a Brit nomination for best British male this year, Brown has done just that.

Currently playing on a sell out tour, Ian Brown is fast becoming a cult, worshipped by his followers in all corners of the country.

"The tour is going great, absolutely brilliant. It's all sold out and the reception I'm getting is amazing," he said. "My mate came to Liverpool with me and he said, 'check it out, you're from Manchester and look at the reception you're getting here. You're a Manc, what's going on here?'. There was loads of kids outside on the street going crazy."

It is all a far cry from 1986 when the Stone Roses played to a handful oe people in King George's Hall.

"There were six people at the show. One of them was a skinhead giving us grief, so I wrapped the microphone lead around his neck and dragged him all round the floor," says Brown matter-of-factly. "I had him so there was a bit of give on the lead and I could sing to him on stage. There were more of us on stage than there was in the audience.

"It's great for me to come back here and I've sold it out."

Just in case you were wondering, the Stone Roses will not be making a comeback. Ian Brown is happy with his solo music.

"There is no chance of the Roses being reformed. It's gonna be Ian Brown now. It's too late now, but maybe I should have come out under another name.

"You know MC Stone Rose or something like that. I'd rather have gone out under another name, because it's my own name that I've had all my life and it's suddenly become a product.

"At first it was unusual. I like being a Stone Rose, but I'm me and I'm the product as well. I wish at the time I'd chosen another name, but I'm used to it now."

Ian Brown, alongside Shaun Ryder and Bez, led the 'Madchester' scene of the late 80s and early 90s, but what does he think of what is going on now?

"It's pretty much back to how it was in the 1950s, the way the companies have got the control of it," he said.

"It's like Tin Pan Alley, but there is always something good going on. The charts are always full of rubbish, there's only ever four or five records every year that are any good."

And what of Pop Idol, the TV show that captured the nation?

"It's all rubbish to me," says Brown. "I've only ever seen five minutes of it, it's like Opportunity Knocks. It's nowt to do with music is it?

Serving a prison sentence for an 'air rage' offence has been the only blip in his solo career, but Ian Brown has not let it affect him. "Before I went in to prison I had absolutely no respect for authority, and when I came out I had even less.

"It's not easy in prison, you're always hungry. I was treated great by the lads in there."

Listening to Ian Brown's albums, its difficult to make comparisons. His sound is distinctive, but who does he listen to?

"I listen to James Brown all the time. He's on the same label as me so they sent me all his records," he said.

"It was my birthday last week and I got a singing and dancing James Brown -- a model one. You press it and it says 'I feel good'. It's a killer present."

It seems that Ian Brown now has the world at his feet and further success is there for the taking. That's why in Blackburn on Saturday a sell-out crowd chanted his name over and over with a zeal usually reserved for football supporters on the terraces.

Mr Ian Brown is not finished yet, there is still some unfinished monkey business to get through.