Editing The Verve (section)

===''Urban Hymns,'' success and second breakup (1997–1999)===
In early 1997, Ashcroft asked McCabe to return, saying: "I got to the point where nothing other than The Verve would do for me."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.musicsaves.org/verve/interviews/36.shtml |title=Follow the Yellow Brick Road |website=Musicsaves.org |access-date=13 September 2010 |archive-date=22 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120222155655/http://www.musicsaves.org/verve/interviews/36.shtml |url-status=dead }}</ref> McCabe obliged and with the new line-up in place (Tong remained on guitar alongside McCabe), the group went through a "spiritual" recording process to finish their third album, ''[[Urban Hymns]].''
{{Listen
|filename=The_Verve_-_Bitter_Sweet_Symphony.ogg
|title="Bitter Sweet Symphony"
|description=The first track on their album ''[[Urban Hymns]]'', "[[Bitter Sweet Symphony]]" is renowned for its signature swirling orchestral melody.}}
For the first time, the Verve achieved commercial success with their new material. The first single, "[[Bitter Sweet Symphony]]", entered the UK charts at number 2 in June 1997. The [[BBC]] wrote that it "became one of the anthems of the year" and "became almost inescapable" after it was used in a television car advert.<ref>{{cite news |date=28 April 1999 |title=The Verve's bitter sweet career |work=[[BBC News]] |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/330634.stm |access-date=23 March 2011}}</ref>

The music video, which received heavy rotation on [[MTV]], sees Ashcroft walking down a busy London pavement, oblivious to what is going on around and refusing to change his stride or direction.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Josephson |first=Isaac |date=October 11, 1997 |title=Verve Single Tops Charts But Success Is Bittersweet |url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/verve-single-tops-charts-but-success-is-bittersweet-19971011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111030184027/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/verve-single-tops-charts-but-success-is-bittersweet-19971011 |archive-date=October 30, 2011 |access-date=11 February 2012 |magazine=Rolling Stone}}</ref><ref>Craig MacLean (14 January 2006) [https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/music/rockandjazzmusic/3649299/Still-crazy.html "Still crazy"] ''The Daily Telegraph'' (London). Retrieved 11 February 2012</ref> The song is based on a [[Sampling (music)|sample]] from a 1965 version of [[the Rolling Stones]]' song "[[The Last Time (Rolling Stones song)|The Last Time]]" by the [[The Andrew Oldham Orchestra|Andrew Oldham Orchestra]]; [[Allen Klein]], who owned the copyright, refused clearance for the sample, and took control of the songwriting credits and royalties.<ref name=":2">{{cite web |last=Beaumont-Thomas |first=Ben |date=23 May 2019|title=Bittersweet no more: Rolling Stones pass Verve royalties to Richard Ashcroft |url=http://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/may/23/bitter-sweet-symphony-royalties-richard-ashcroft-verve-royalties-novello |access-date=14 July 2022 |website=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref>

In August 1997, The Verve began playing their first gigs in two years, beginning the Urban Hymns Tour. The next single, "[[The Drugs Don't Work]]", gave the band their first UK number one in September.<ref name="Charts">Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums. London: Guinness World Records Limited</ref> ''Urban Hymns'' reached number one on the [[UK Albums Chart]] that month, knocking off Oasis' highly anticipated album ''[[Be Here Now (album)|Be Here Now]]''.<ref name="Charts" /> The Verve saw an overwhelming increase in popularity overseas; it reached the US top 30,  going platinum in the process,<ref name="Strong" /> and "Bitter Sweet Symphony" reached number 12 on the US charts, their highest ever American position.<ref>Whitburn, Joel (2006). ''The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits''. Billboard Books</ref> Critic Mike Gee of ''iZINE'' said of this time that the Verve "had become the greatest band in the world. ...The Verve were no longer the question mark or the cliché. They were the statement and the definition."<ref name="izine">{{cite web |url=http://www.thei.aust.com/music98/verve1.html |last=Gee |first=Mike |title=The Verve: Urban Ties; A Bittersweet Symphony |website=iZine |date=1 January 1998 |access-date=9 May 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060827043316/http://www.thei.aust.com/music98/verve1.html |archive-date=27 August 2006 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> By November the band released "[[Lucky Man (The Verve song)|Lucky Man]]" in the UK and reached number 7.<ref name="Charts" /> At the [[1998 BRIT Awards|1998 Brit Awards]], The Verve won the awards for [[1998 BRIT Awards#The awards|Best British Group]]<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/on1080216036 |title=Rock chronicles: every legend, every line-up, every look |date=2019 |publisher=Firefly Books |isbn=978-0-2281-0159-8 |editor-last=Roberts |editor-first=David |edition=Third |location=Richmond Hill, Ontario |pages=522 |oclc=on1080216036}}</ref> and [[1998 BRIT Awards#The awards|Best British Album]] (''Urban Hymns'').<ref name="The Brit Awards: The Verve" /> The band's singles were given extensive airplay on US rock stations and Ashcroft, and bandmates, appeared on the cover of ''[[Rolling Stone]]'' magazine in March 1998.<ref name="Cover" /> Then, as the band was on a successful tour to promote the album, Jones collapsed on stage.{{Citation needed|date=November 2019}} At the [[1998 MTV Video Music Awards]], "Bitter Sweet Symphony" was nominated for [[MTV Video Music Award for Video of the Year|Video of the Year]], [[Best Group Video]], and [[Best Alternative Video]].<ref>[http://www.rockonthenet.com/archive/1998/mtvvmas.htm 1998 MTV Video Music Awards] Rock on the Net. Retrieved 11 February 2012</ref>

On 24 May 1998, The Verve played a homecoming concert in front of 33,000 fans in the grounds of [[Haigh, Wigan|Haigh Hall & Country Park]], [[Aspull]], supported by [[Beck]] and [[John Martyn (singer)|John Martyn]]. The band then played gigs in mainland Europe, but, on 7 June, a post-show fight at the [[Mitsubishi Electric Halle|Philips Halle]] in [[Düsseldorf]], [[Germany]] left McCabe with a broken hand and Ashcroft with a sore jaw. After this, McCabe decided he could not tolerate the pressures of life on the road any longer and pulled out of the tour, leaving the band's future in jeopardy, with rumours of a split circulating in the press. The band continued with session musician [[B. J. Cole]] replacing McCabe, whose guitar work was also sampled and triggered on stage. The band played another American tour, which was riddled with problems as venues were downsized<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.the-verve.info/gigs/Aug.5.1998.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081204114758/http://www.the-verve.info/gigs/Aug.5.1998.htm|url-status=usurped|title=The Verve Resources and Information|archive-date=4 December 2008|website=The-verve.info}}</ref> and support act [[Massive Attack]] dropped out.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://musicsaves.org/verve/98news.shtml |title=The Latest Verve News |website=Musicsaves.org |access-date=13 September 2010}}</ref> The band returned to England for two headline performances at [[V Festival]], which received poor reviews; ''[[NME]]'' wrote that "where songs used to spiral upwards and outwards, they now simply fizzle tamely".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.the-verve.info/gigs/Aug.23.1998.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090119125238/http://www.the-verve.info/gigs/Aug.23.1998.htm|url-status=usurped|title=The Verve Resources and Information|archive-date=19 January 2009|website=The-verve.info}}</ref> The Verve played their last gig at [[Slane Castle]] in Ireland on 29 August. A long period of inactivity followed. In February 1999, "Bitter Sweet Symphony" was nominated for the [[Grammy Award for Best Rock Song]].<ref name="41st Grammy Awards – 1999" /> Finally, in April 1999, it was announced that The Verve had again split up.<ref>{{Cite web |date=28 April 1999 |title=The Verve split up |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/330280.stm |access-date=2022-07-15 |website=[[BBC News]]}}</ref>