Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder claims he has "used up more than nine lives" as he revealed a harrowing incident when he was held hostage by armed robbers. As the band's lead vocalist, Shaun played a crucial role in the Madchester music movement of the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Throughout his musical journey, Shaun has been candid about his battles with addiction. He was, at points, rendered unable to walk due to the extent of his substance use. The group's 1992 album, Yes Please!, was allegedly plagued by drugs.

Their manager relocated them to Barbados, as the island was "completely clean of smack". Regrettably, it was apparently in the midst of a crack cocaine epidemic, with Shaun allegedly consuming "50 rocks a day". The album ultimately proved a commercial disappointment.

Now aged 63, Shaun maintains he lives as a "normal dad" and abandoned substances over two decades ago. Nevertheless, he continues to recount some of the spine-chilling experiences he has endured throughout the years. "I have used up more than nine lives," he told The Sun.

Shaun remembered one frightening incident in 1987, shortly after the band launched their debut album Squirrel and G-Man Twenty Four Hour Party People Plastic Face Carnt Smile (White Out). He was residing in Amsterdam at the time and claims he wasn't sufficiently famous to be identified.

He said: "Some nutcases we knew from Manchester, who was doing armed robberies and was then in Amsterdam, hijacked a load of people, put them in the canal and shot them and then turned up at the gaff where we were staying and held us hostage for a day or two."

Shaun says he managed to persuade the attacker into releasing him. However, in another incident, he says he came across an ape that is said to have escaped onto a beach in Barbados. He says the orangutan had been dubbed "Jack the Ripper" in the local press.

Shaun, who maintains he wasn't hallucinating the incident, claims it "dropped out of the trees" in front of him. He described it as "f*****g big," deciding that he kept telling himself "don't show any fear". He claims he told the ape to "f**k off," claiming it did exactly that.

The orangutan isn't a native species to Barbados, meaning Shaun says there is a strong possibility that the ape he encountered was the infamous Jack the Ripper. Shaun maintains the band were "24 hour party people".

But in 2010, inspired by his wife Joanne and their daughters, he made the dramatic decision to eliminate drugs and recover from financial difficulties. Speaking to the Mirror, he said: "I don't even think about drugs. And when I'm not working, I'm in bed by 11pm."

Beyond wanting to be a devoted father for his family, Shaun ultimately kicked the drugs by cycling for an incredible 15 hours daily. "It was cycling that got me off drugs," he explained. "I'd get on my bike very early in the morning and keep cycling until very late at night, day after day, until it was out of the system. I was pedalling from 8am until 11pm."

He reveals he is frequently questioned about his partying years and whether he longs for the heyday of the Happy Mondays. He said: "People ask if I miss the old days. Well, no. It was brilliant but that was then and this is now and I like now too. When I hit 40 I thought, 'Wait a minute, your kids are growing up, you're not young anymore yet you're living the same life you was at 18."