Happy Mondays star Paul Ryder left £6,000 after he died suddenly aged 58 hours before show

HAPPY Mondays bassist Paul Ryder left £6,000 in his British estate after he died without writing a will.

The pioneering musician, the brother of frontman Shaun Ryder, bequeathed the sum to his daughter Amelia after his death at 58 in July 2022.

Documents obtained by The Sun show the dad-of-four did not write a British will and had £13,262 in assets when he died.

After debts and legal sums, the fund was reduced to £5,978.

Much of Ryder’s royalties and other income is believed to be registered abroad after he moved to Los Angeles in the late 2000s, leaving few assets in Britain.

It means most of his estate is likely held in the US.

The High Court granted probate to his daughter Amelia last week.

The musician was found dead by his mum Linda just hours before the band were due to play at Kubix Festival in Sunderland as part of their latest reunion.

His family revealed he’d reported suffering from headaches after arriving in the UK from the US West Coast.

Singer Shaun and his younger brother formed the Madchester-era band, famed for 90s anthems Step On and Loose Fit, in Salford in 1980.

They recruited pals Gaz Whelan, Paul Davis and Mark Day – before later adding dancer Mark “Bez” Barry to the troupe.

They released their first album in 1987 and followed it up with Bummed in 1988, which propelled them to stardom.

The brothers, raised by their nurse mum and postie dad Derek, are hailed as pioneers of Manchester’s indie scene after merging rock music with the blooming rave scene.

But the duo fell out as Paul and Shaun both struggled with heroin addictions.

Paul rejoined the group in 1999 but quit again three years later, before finally returning for good in 2012 after getting clean and moving to the US.

As well as music, Paul had a brief foray into film – including with Sinéad O’Connor in Channel 4 TV flick The Ghosts Of Oxford Street.

He also appeared in a movie about the band called 24 Hour Party People, where he played a gangster.

Paul married music journalist Angela Smith in 2010 after an 11-year relationship, during which they had two children.

The pair split in 2016 but remained close, even working on a podcast series about the Happy Mondays released after Paul’s death.

Away from the stage, Paul’s son Chico was diagnosed with cancer at age ten.

He revealed how he taught him how to inhale cannabis as part of his treatment.

He revealed at the time: “My drug problems are well documented. I nearly lost my life. But it was cannabis that saved my son’s.”

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

But big brother Shaun later claimed his demise was “iffy” after Paul reportedly got a “clean bill of health” months earlier.

After he died, ex-wife Smith paid tribute, saying: “His legacy is that he lived a very colourful life and did some things that most people would try to keep secret – but Paul has been brave enough to tell his whole story, warts and all.

“He’s never been afraid of telling the truth and I know one of the reasons he was willing to speak out about what he went through was he hoped it might help others going through something similar.”

Stone Roses singer Ian Brown branded Ryder, who he nicknamed Pabs, as “a great friend, a great musician, a great fella”.