Primal Scream bassist Simone Marie Butler announces departure from band: "I'll always be a part of the Scream family"

28 January 2026, 17:58

Primal Scream frontman Bobby Gillespie and former bassist Simone Marie Butler. Picture: © Andy Von Pip/ZUMA Press Wire/Alamy

By Jenny Mensah

The bassist first joined the band as a full time member in 2012.

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Simone Marie Butler has announced her departure from Primal Scream.

The bassist - who first joined as a full-time member in 2012 after Gary 'Mani' Mounfield left the band to rejoin The Stone Roses the previous year - has quit the outfit.

Sharing the news on Instagram, she wrote: "I want to thank everyone who I’ve had the pleasure to play in front of for the last 13 years with Primal Scream. It truly has been an amazing ride with genuinely beautiful people."

Se went on: "It truly has been an amazing ride with genuinely beautiful people. So so many incredible times, laughs and experiences. That’s the dream right there. Bobby, Andrew and the band are incredible musicians and people."

See her full post below:

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The Where the Light Gets In bassist added: "Going forward I will no longer be playing with the band and shall miss that, but I truly wish them all the very best for the future. I’m incredibly grateful to have been part of this band for so long, to have travelled the entire world, to meet the most amazing people and amazing fans and to play music I love and learn so much from the guys as musicians and performers. It’s been an incredible learning curve."

"Primal Scream’s music meant a lot to me even before I was playing those iconic bass lines and when I got that call to audition it felt like divine timing so I’d like to thanks Bobby and Andrew for taking a chance on me all those years ago. I love you all and although not on stage, I’ll always be part of the scream family X".

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Butler wasn't present for the band's XTRMNTR album shows, which caused controversy after teur Camden Roundhouse gig, where the band faced claims of anti-semitism.

The musician did perform at the band's show at Manchester's Warehouse Project, where they paid tribute to Mani by playing I'm Losing More Than I'll Ever Have in his hometown.

Sharing her own tribute to to the Manchester legend, Butler wrote on her Instagram: "Truly in shock at this. An incredible loss to everyone who knew and loved him. The moment u met Mani u loved him . The most brilliant and wickedly sharp sense of humour and the biggest heart and generosity. The smile in that first pic was so absolutely him. He called me his scorpio bass sister . My heart is breaking for his boys , family and loved ones . Was meant to see him tmro in Manchester .

"A terrible and sad loss . An amazing person, so so loved by everyone all over the world X just heartbreaking .

"Love you Mani my scorpio bass brother".