Richard "Rich" Vernon (born 7 July 1966) is a British musician and songwriter best known as the bass guitarist of rock band The Mission, and previously with The Only Ones vocalist and cult artist Peter Perrett in The One.

At the age of 20, Vernon left his home in Wales and moved to London, starting his musical career as a session player in a number of bands including Eddie and the Hot Rods.

Over his career, he has played with musicians from The Kinks, Squeeze, The Adventures, The Charlatans, The Waterboys, The Monochrome Set, The Pink Fairies, The Wonder Stuff, The Pretenders, The Damned and many others.

Following a call from Perrett's tour manager, Vernon was asked to join The Mission[3][4] as replacement for departing founder member Craig Adams.

[12] The band also recorded a live album from London's Shepherd's Bush Empire over four consecutive sold out nights,[13][14][15][16][17] which was billed as the last Mission shows for the foreseeable future.

[20] In November 2016, Vernon replaced Robbie Crane in Ricky Warwick's band The Fighting Hearts for a UK tour, supported by Vice Squad.

The band included ex-Mission UK mate, Mark Gemini Thwaite, along with Ashton Nyte and Jared Shavelson; their performances met an extremely positive response.

In June 2024, Vernon played bass for German goth band The Last Decade at their debut show at the Mystic Festival in Poland, alongside Tim Vic (Nosferatu) and Michelle Darkness (End of Green).