The Verve

The Verve were an English rock band formed in 1990 in Wigan by lead vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bassist Simon Jones, and drummer Peter Salisbury. Simon Tong later became a member. Beginning with a psychedelic sound indebted to shoegazing and space rock, by the mid-1990s the band had released several EPs and three albums. They also endured name and line-up changes, breakups, health problems, drug abuse and various lawsuits. Filter referred to them as "one of the tightest knit, yet ultimately volatile bands in history". Their commercial breakthrough was the 1997 album Urban Hymns and their single "Bitter Sweet Symphony", which became a worldwide hit. Soon after this commercial peak, the band broke up in April 1999, citing internal conflicts. During their eight year split, Ashcroft dismissed talk of a reunion, saying: "You're more likely to get all four Beatles on stage". The band's original line-up reunited in June 2007, embarking on a tour later that year and releasing the album Forth in August 2008. In 2009, the band broke up for the third time.