Glam rock singer and actor Alvin Stardust has died at the age of 72, it’s been confirmed.
Real name Bernard Jewry, and also known as Shane Fenton, Stardust has recently been diagnosed with prostate cancer, but hadn’t stopped performing. His last appearance was in Worcestershire at the weekend.
He’d recently completed work on his first album in 30 years, and the release will go ahead as planned in November. A spokesman says: “It’s an extraordinary record - we’ve been playing it to people who thought it was Johnny Cash or Glen Campbell. Nobody guessed it was Alvin. It’s fantastic, and it’s going to come out next month because that’s what he would have wanted.”
Jewry was the second singer to use the name Shane Fenton, after the original died just before his band the Fentones were to appear on BBC television in the early 1960s. Taking his place, Jewry and co released a number of successful singles under manager Larry Parnes, before splitting up. He became Stardust in the 1970s and enjoyed hits over the next decade with My Coo Ca Choo, Jealous Mind,_ I Feel Like Buddy Holly_ and others.
His stage career included stints in Godspell, David Copperfield, and as the Child Catcher in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. He’s also remembered for a 1976 Green Cross Code public safety film.
