Happy Monday's legend Rowetta abruptly QUITS iconic band after 35-years and bitter feud as she teases 'amazing news to come' in cryptic post

Happy Monday's star Rowetta Satchell has abruptly quit the iconic band after a whopping 35-years.

A statement was shared to the group's offical Instagram account as well as the former X Factor contestant's personal grid on Monday, before she cryptically teased 'amazing news' to come.

The statement read: 'Happy Mondays and Rowetta announce that Rowetta will no longer be performing with the band. Happy Mondays thank Rowetta for her services and wish her all the best for the future'.

Rowetta then wrote: 'Really looking forward to the New Year & sharing some amazing news with you all. Thanks for all the love through the years, means the world'. 

The songstress first joined the group, alongside original members Shaun Ryder, 62, and Bez, 60, and late bassist Paul Ryder in 1990, and appeared on top 5 track Step Up, as well as albums Pills 'n' Thrills and Bellyaches and Yes Please!.

But her time in the band has not been plain sailing and a bitter feud resulted in her and frontman Shaun not speaking for a number of years, before finally burying the hatchet.

Last year she told The Mirror: 'We didn't speak for a long time, myself and Shaun. So now we're getting on really, really better than ever.

'Because I think it does help when you're going through your problems and you do fall out, and you're falling out over nothing sometimes, that if you have a break.

'The last gig we did, we smiled, myself and Sean, we smiled the whole way through.'  

In 2004 Rowetta appeared on talent show The X Factor where she was mentored by Simon Cowell and made it all the way to the semi finals. 

It comes after Happy Mondays bassist Paul Ryder left just £6,000 in his estate after he died without writing a will. 

The musician, who is the brother of frontman Shaun, died in 2022 at the age of 58, just hours before the band were due to play a gig in Sunderland. 

Documents obtained by The Sun show that Paul did not write a British will, and originally had just £13,262 in assets when he died, which was later reduced to £5,978 following the taking of debts and legal sums.

Many of Paul's royalties and income are thought to be registered abroad after he moved to Los Angeles in the late 2000s.

The High Court granted probate to his daughter Amelia earlier his month.

Shaun, 59, and Paul were the original founders of The Happy Mondays that first formed in Salford in 1980.

Paul was found dead in July 2022, before the band were due to play at Kubix Festival in Sunderland.

The band paid tribute with a Facebook post at the time which read: 'The Ryder family and Happy Mondays band members are deeply saddened and shocked to say that Paul Ryder passed away this morning.

'A true pioneer and legend. He will be forever missed. We thank you for respecting the privacy of all concerned at this time.'

A coroner ruled Ryder died of Ischaemic heart disease and diabetes. 

While his brother Shaun insisted his sibling's death was not due to drugs, Paul had previously been very open about his addiction battles in the early days of the band when he used heroin.

His brother Shaun has also opened up about his 20-year drug addiction in the past.

In 2014, Paul told MailOnline how he treated his now 16-year-old son's cancer with cannabis.

He had said that as a recovering addict he would never have encouraged Chico to take drugs.

But when faced with his son's diagnosis - a rare form of soft tissue cancer - the musician said he and his wife took the decision to use cannabis oil.

Paul married music journalist Angela Smith in 2010 after 11-years together, and they had two children before splitting in 2016