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Alvin Stardust has sadly passed away after recently being diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer. The 72-year-old died today (Oct 23) at his home in West Sussex.

The singer was born Bernard William Jewry in Muswell Hill, North London, on 27 September 1942. His first success came in the early 1960s when he performed as Shane Fenton with his band The Fentones. He had been the roadie for the band, but took over frontman duties when the original Shane Fenton (real name Johnny Theakstone) died. The band had moderate hits with “I’m A Moody Guy,” “Walk Away,” “It’s All Over Now,” and “Cindy’s Birthday” but broke up after several songs had failed to chart.

Jewry also appeared as Shane Fenton in the 1962 Billy Fury movie “Play It Cool”.

“It’s Gonna Take Magic” – Shane Fenton and Billy Fury

After a decade away from the spotlight, Jewry adopted the stage name Alvin Stardust in the early 1970s and became one of the leading glam rock figures in the UK. As with Shane Fenton, Jewry was not the original Alvin Stardust. The original Alvin Stardust was Peter Shelley, who wrote “My Coo Ca Choo” and co-owned the record company that released it. Jewry became the face of Alvin Stardust when it was decided that someone with a strong look was needed to take the act forward. As Stardust, Jewry now entered the most successful stage of his career, charting a number of hits in 1974-75, including the UK No. 1 “Jealous Minds,” “Red Dress,” “You, You, You,” “Tell Me Why,” “Good Love Can Never Die” and “Sweet Cheatin’ Rita.”

“Jealous Mind” – Alvin Stardust

This chart success and his popularity with the young led to Stardust being used as part of the successful Green Cross Code road safety campaign in 1976.

After several years without a hit, Alvin Stardust returned to the UK Top Ten in 1981 with “Pretend,” and did so again twice in 1984 with “I Feel Like Buddy Holly” and “I Won’t Run Away”. His final chart success was the moderate hit “Got a Little Heartache” in 1985, but he kept busy with acting and singing roles in stage shows such as “Godspell,” “David Copperfield – The Musical,” “The Butlin Story” and “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang”. He also took on various television hosting and acting roles, including a stint in the soap opera “Hollyoaks”.

Stardust made a return to live gigs in recent years and recently recorded a new album titled “Alvin” which will be released on October 27 in the UK and on November 11 (import) in North America.

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