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The Verve (originally Verve) are an English rock band formed in Wigan, Greater Manchester in 1989 at Winstanley Sixth Form College, by vocalist Richard Ashcroft, guitarist Nick McCabe, bassist Simon Jones, and drummer Peter Salisbury. Simon Tonglater became a member. The band split in April 1999 due to innerconflicts which led to McCabe's departure. The band's original line-upreunited in June 2007. The band embarked on a tour in late 2007 andhave announced an album due in 2008.
Beginning with a psychedelic sound indebted to space rock and shoegazing, by the mid-1990s the band had released several EPsand two acclaimed records. They also endured name and lineup changes,breakups, health problems, drug abuse and various lawsuits. The band'scommercial breakthrough was the album Urban Hymns and its single "Bitter Sweet Symphony",which became a massive worldwide hit. Soon after this commercial peak,the band broke up, citing creative struggles between band members. Bythen, The Verve had become one of the most influential Britishalternative rock acts of the decade.
Mike Gee of iZINE said, "...The Verve, as he [Richard Ashcroft]promised, had become the greatest band in the world. Most of thecritics agreed with him. Most paid due homage. The Verve were no longerthe question mark or the cliché. They were the statement and thedefinition."