Editing Manic Street Preachers (section)

====The disappearance of Richey Edwards====
{{main|Richey Edwards#Disappearance and presumed death}}

[[File:Richey Edwards (7227817420).jpg|thumb|right|Edwards performing in Japan in May 1992 <ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.concertarchives.org/bands/manic-street-preachers?page=49#concert-table |website=concertarchives.com |access-date=18 February 2025 |title=Manic Street Preachers Concert & Tour History (Updated for 2025) &#124; Concert Archives }}</ref>]]

Edwards disappeared on 1 February 1995, on the day when he and [[James Dean Bradfield]] were due to fly to the US on a promotional tour.<ref name="Price 1999, pp. 177-178">{{harvnb|Price|1999|pp=177–178}}</ref> In the two weeks before his disappearance, Edwards withdrew £200 a day from his bank account, which totalled £2,800 by the day of the scheduled flight.<ref name="IOS">{{cite news | first=Andy | last=Beckett | title=Missing street preacher | date=2 March 1997 | newspaper=The Independent on Sunday }}</ref><ref>{{harvnb|Price|1999|p=178}}</ref> He checked out of the Embassy Hotel in [[Bayswater Road]], London, at seven in the morning, and then drove to his apartment in [[Cardiff]], Wales.<ref name="IOS"/><ref name="Price 1999, p. 179">{{harvnb|Price|1999|p=179}}</ref> In the two weeks that followed he was apparently spotted in the [[Newport, Wales|Newport]] passport office,<ref>{{harvnb|Price|1999|p=183}}</ref> and the [[Newport bus station]].<ref name="IOS"/><ref name="SP180">{{harvnb|Price|1999|p=180}}</ref> On 7 February, a taxi driver from Newport supposedly picked up Edwards from the King's Hotel in Newport, and drove him around the valleys, including Blackwood (Edwards' home as a child). The passenger got off at the [[Severn View services|Severn View service station]] near [[Aust]] and paid the £68 fare in cash.<ref name="Price 1999, p. 179"/><ref>{{cite news | first=Alex | last=Bellos | pages=T.010 | title=Music: Desperately seeking Richey | date=26 January 1996|newspaper=The Guardian }}</ref>

On 14 February, Edwards' [[Vauxhall Cavalier]] received a parking ticket at the Severn View service station and on 17 February, the vehicle was reported as abandoned. Police discovered the battery to be flat, with evidence that the car had been lived in.<ref name="Price 1999, pp. 177-178"/><ref name="IOS"/><ref>{{cite news | title=Ten-year tragedy of missing Manic | date=1 February 2005|publisher=BBC | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/music/4210451.stm|access-date=30 January 2008}}</ref> Due to the [[Severn View services|service station]]'s proximity to the [[Severn Bridge]] (which has been a prominent suicide location in the past)<ref>Pidd, Helen. "[https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/nov/29/richey-edwards-manic-street-preachers Richey Edwards case closed: how 14 years of hope ended]", ''[[The Guardian]]''. 29 November 2008.</ref> it was widely believed that he took his own life by jumping from the bridge.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-14264609 |title=Amy Winehouse joins iconic stars who died aged 27|date=25 July 2011|publisher=BBC|access-date=25 July 2011}}</ref>

Manic Street Preachers was put on hold for six months and disbanding the group was seriously considered, but with the blessing of Edwards' family, the other members continued.<ref name="Price"/> Edwards was legally "[[Declared death in absentia#England and Wales|presumed dead]]" in 2008, to enable his parents to administer his estate.<ref>{{cite news | title=Missing guitarist 'presumed dead' | date=24 November 2008|publisher=BBC | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/7745273.stm|access-date=24 November 2008}}</ref><ref>{{Citation | last = Cartwright | first = Garth | title = Obituary: Richey Edwards | newspaper = [[The Guardian]] | date = 26 November 2008 | url = https://www.theguardian.com/music/2008/nov/26/richey-edwards-manic-street-preachers | access-date = 30 October 2012}}</ref> The band continue to set up a microphone for Edwards at every live performance.<ref name="UniEel">{{cite web |title=The Disappearance of Richey Edwards: What Happened? |url=https://unieel.com/2018/01/07/the-disappearance-of-richey-edwards-what-happened/ |website=UniEel.com |access-date=29 June 2018 |date=7 January 2018 |archive-date=1 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190501105706/https://unieel.com/2018/01/07/the-disappearance-of-richey-edwards-what-happened/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>