Manic Street Preachers consists of James Dean (vocals, guitar), Nicky Wire (bass), Richey James (rhythm guitar), Sean Moore (drums).
Manic Street Preachers (often known colloquially as "The Manics", and not "The Preachers") are a Welsh rock band often associated with the Britpop scene, and were one of the biggest bands in Britain for a period in the late 1990s. They are best known for their wild early exploits, the mysterious disappearance and possible suicide of Richey James Edwards (Richey James, as he preferred to be known), as well as for a succession of strong iconoclastic albums and energetic gigs. Politically they are staunch socialists - a stance inflected by their working class upbringing in South Wales (they grew up during the Miners' strike of the 1980s) as evidenced by their often highly politicised lyrics and actions (they once dedicated an award to Arthur Scargill, leader of the National Union of Mineworkers and later the Socialist Labour Party). The band also played a highly-publicised gig in Cuba.
The band - which was originally named Betty Blue (after the English title of French film 37°2 le matin) - was formed in 1986 by Oakdale Comprehensive ( Blackwood) schoolfriends James Dean Bradfield (lead guitarist), Flicker (bass guitarist), Sean Moore, (drummer and James' cousin), and Nicky Wire (Real name: Nicholas Jones, rhythm guitarist and brother of poet and playwright Patrick Jones). For a short period Jenny Watkins-Isnardi joined the group as a singer, but left after a few months to be replaced by James. During this time James had tried writing lyrics (among them the unrecorded 'Jackboot Johnny') but he gave up and Nicky wrote all their earliest lyrics.
In 1988, Flicker left the band, which became a three-piece, with Nicky switching from rhythm to bass guitar, and they recorded their first single—"Suicide Alley". The cover was highly reminiscent of The Clash's first album (simply titled The Clash) and was photographed and designed by schoolfriend Richey James Edwards. Richey's contribution to the band was co-writing the lyrics with Nicky, miming guitar onstage (Richey once said of his guitar playing, "I can play a bit, but compared to James I can't play at all") and driving the band to and from gigs.