Pete Burns: The Story of the lead singer of Dead or Alive. Biography Lead singer of the group dead or alive Pete Burns

Burns had first surfaced on the scene two years earlier leading the ephemeral line-up of MYSTERY GIRLS (the title of the song was NEW YORK DOLLS), and later, in February 1979, led the proto-gothic band NIGHTMARES IN WAX - by his own admission, "the worst group in history". In addition to Burns, it also included guitarist Mick Reid, keyboardist Martin Healy, bass player Walter Ogden and ex-MYSTERY GIRLS member drummer Phil Hurst. The Nightmares recorded an EP called "Birth of a Nation" for local indie company Inervitable, which entered the UK "independent" charts, and then contributed one track to the "Hicks from the Sticks" compilation - an anthology of regional post-punk. However, then Burns did not like the name of the group, and literally ten minutes before the first appearance of his group on the radio, he renamed it DEAD OR ALIVE - he could not stand the pretentious, tasteful names of other ensembles from Liverpool and did not want to have anything in common with these groups.

Shortly after that program, DEAD OR ALIVE disbanded. Burns decided to continue under this

name and assembled a new line-up: the same Martin Healy, guitarist Mitch, bassist Sue James and drummer Joe Musker. He made his debut in May 1980 with the release of the single "I`m Falling", recorded at a local studio, sounding in the spirit of DOORS, which was absolutely not typical for Liverpool, and produced by LIGHTNING SEEDS leader Ian Brody. The release of this single was accompanied by a large number of concerts and the debut performance of the group on TV - this happened in the music program "Celebration" of the channel "Granada TV". The band gained attention, signed with Inevitable and released their second single, Number Eleven, in May 1981. It seemed that the momentum for promotion had been received, but the breakthrough on the pop scene of the "new romantics" movement threw DOA to the side of the high road of show business.

Shortly thereafter, DOA disbanded for the second time. Burns did not lose heart and, with the support of the faithful Healy, recruited guitarist Wayne Hussey and bassist Michael Percy by the end of the year. The musicians were offered a steep contract with the company "Virgin Records" in the amount of forty-five thousand pounds, but Pete was outraged by the company's plans to direct the group to a commercial path and make the image "less provocative". Well, the deal didn't go through, and two more offers were rejected for the same reason, so DOA formed their own label, Black Eyes, which was distributed through the larger indie label, Rough Trade. On their new records in 1982, the maxi-single "It's Been Hours Now" and the single "Stranger", they evolved into normal dance-pop performers - though without much commercial success. "It`s Been Hours Now" is, however, even to this day considered one of the best songs recorded by the ensemble in its entire career, and then entered the "top ten" of the independent charts in Britain. And with "Stranger", released in May, the band headlined the Futurama Show 2 in Leeds at the end of the year.

With their music, still a little heavy, but already distinguished by a bright melody, and, above all, by their image, DOA attracted the attention of the major label "Epic", with which they signed a contract in July 1982. Burns was seen as the "answer" to Boy George: he also performed in women's dress and in make-up, however, Pete has always stated that Boy just stole his ideas in the field of image. However, one can argue with this - after all, if the gender of Boy George at first could be determined with difficulty, then Pete always looked like "a made-up man dressed in women's rags."

During 1983, the singles "Misty Circles" (May) and "What I Want" (August) appeared; the first of these has already attracted quite a lot of press attention and has become a club hit as good as NEW ORDER's "Blue Monday". Soon this monumental song even sounded in the children's TV show "Razzamatazz", but still sold out of hand. And "What I Want" secured the band a short stay in the UK chart at number 88.

Hussey soon dropped out, leaving Burns, Percy, keyboardist/saxophonist Tim Lever and drummer Steven Coy; guitarist Russell Bell, known for his work with Gary Newman, and keyboardist Chris Page also performed with them at concerts.

At this time, the material for the band's debut album was being recorded - the sessions had lasted for a year already, and in spite of everything, they were led by Zeus B Held, known for his work with the FASHION band and John Foxx. In the end, the LP was called "Sophisticated Boom-Boom" (that was the name of the hit of the popular female vocal group SHANGRI-LA`S in the 60s) and was prepared for release in October 1983, however, "Epic" sent it for revision from -for not being able to choose a normal song with hit ambitions. Instead of an album in January 1984, a single appeared with the song "I`d Do Anything", for which the band's first video was filmed. It was not shown, and the song, not supported by either concerts from the band or advertising from the company, continued a surprisingly long chain of loser singles released by DOA, failing to rise above # 79.

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Having suffered with capricious and headstrong musicians, the company allowed Pete to decide for himself which song is worthy of appearing on the next single. And he already had an answer ready - on the album, solely for the sake of a joke, a cover version of the "disco" classic from KC AND THE SUNSHINE BAND "That`s the Way (I Like It)" was recorded, on which no stake was made. However, it was this thing that was destined to start the "star path" of the group.

The single appeared on the shelves of music stores in March 1984. And at the same time, the DEAD OR ALIVE video for the song appeared on television for the first time. Filmed with muscular representatives of the Women's Bodybuilding Federation filmed in the rain on the Arsenal football field, it was popular on television and contributed to the spread of the song. And also DOA's energetic and memorable appearance at the major "Oxford Road Show" took place and all this led to the fact that "That`s the Way", the first of the group's things, was a great success and only slightly fell short of the British Top 20 ', rising to 22nd position.

With this thing, the group, despite the dissatisfaction of the "BBC", made its way to the TV show "Top of the Pops", after which Mr. Burns, dressed in a white vest and yellow pants, got from the press for his image in full. He was flattered, but when he learned that a transvestite singer named Devine was given an even bigger thrashing, he was very upset. However, every cloud has a silver lining - he finally got the opportunity to publicly spar with Boy George.

For the first time since 1982, the band did a rather short tour, after which, thank God, their debut album was released in May. The responses to it were contradictory, but "Sophisticated Boom-Boom" was well received by the public, pleased that the musicians gave birth to the same longplay, and got to 29th place in the album charts. I must say that this disc is quite unusual - without presenting anything radically new, it nevertheless made it clear that not thoughtless copies, but quite original performers appeared on the British stage. The musicians were able to create something "of their own" by combining various elements typical of the 80s - neo-disco dressing with an average beat and an abundance of keyboards, dry "slap" bass and a hollow synth sound a la DURAN DURAN, funky brass. Held's work as a producer and Tim Palmer's engineering determined the high-quality sound of the material, however, the disc revealed the main problem of the ensemble, which was especially acute on subsequent releases - a striking weakness of the melodic component and an active, even slightly aggressive concentration on the dance "groove". Pete Burns was, of course, the focal point of the ensemble, but on the records he appeared and, so to speak, the vocal point - his powerful deep voice, no doubt, puts him among the original vocalists of the 80s. In the songs from Pete, there is literally nowhere to go - he climbs into the ears at every suitable and inappropriate opportunity. As for the lyrics, their main meaning is sex and again (and many, many more times) sex: "Do It", "What I Want", "You Make Me Wanna", "That`s the Way (I Like It)", etc. However, the disc was only a run before the biggest success of the ensemble.

In the meantime, DOA went to America to play some gigs there, and it's funny that overseas they shared the same record label with Boy George's band CULTURE CLUB! Returning, the musicians in June released a remixed version of their old single, "What I Want", which ... failed, and in the fall began work on a new album.

In November 1984, DOA released a new single to precede the release of their second album, "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)". Almost immediately, the song hit the Top 100 charts, but for a good couple of months it hung between the Top 75 and Top 40. The team was then allowed on "Top of the Pops" and the single jumped to 40th place. Well, three weeks later, the musicians finally achieved real, great fame and fame - on March 5, 1985, "You Spin Me Round" topped the British national singles chart for two weeks. This high-energy hit was produced by the Stock-Aitken-Waterman team, and became the team's first number one hit, and brought the musicians a "silver" single sales certificate.

Huge success on television, in particular on the American "MTV", had a bizarre and minimalistic video for this song - Burns posed as a multi-armed Shiva, and his bandmates actively waved flags. Soon the single was released in the USA and became the ensemble's biggest overseas hit - it got to 11th place. Naturally, such a massive popularity of the pilot single provided a powerful publicity for the second DOA album - "Youthquake". It predictably became the band's most popular album when it reached number 9 on the UK Albums Chart, and overseas it even entered the Billboard magazine charts at a respectable number 31. The album was certified Silver in the UK and Gold in the US. A real "star" life began for the members of the group - in the first half of 1985 they could be seen in almost every British television show related to music, and their main hit hit the Top 10 worldwide.

"You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" is truly a true classic of the 80s, one of the best dance action movies of the decade. And for the group, he became such a standard that all their subsequent compositions were only a variation on his theme. No matter how producers, or record companies, or line-up changed, DOA from album to album tried to reproduce the ideal formula that they came up with "You Spin Me Round". However, as one might expect, nothing of the kind was created.

This success, plus a brief June tour in support of Youthquake, made them the biggest newcomer of 1985, but by early 1986 it was clear that DOA was destined to remain a one-hit band. Further hit singles with a similar sound - "Lover, Come Back to Me" (March), the magnificent "In Too Deep" (June) and "My Heart Goes Bang (Get Me to the Doctor)" (September) were a huge club success. , however, they did not break into the "top ten", stopping within the "Top-30". And, besides, Burns's antisocial behavior did not contribute to strengthening the ensemble's reputation - he took it for granted to say all sorts of nonsense and abnormalities in front of the press, which created a reputation for him as a kind of "star disease" jerk, and wearing a belt with the word "SEX" is large typed on a buckle, did him a disservice, causing sharp attacks from activists in the fight against another disease, much more dangerous - AIDS. "Plague of the twentieth century" rapidly seized the minds of the population, but the new DOA singles could not boast of this.

Nevertheless, the initial success of the group gave its members the opportunity to organize a round-the-world tour in 1986, which was a notable success. In Japan, they were able to fill the largest concert halls such as "Jo Hall" and "Budokan", and the American press called the group one of the greatest dance ensembles to visit America for long time. Released at the turn of 1986-1987 hits "Brand New Lover" (No. 15 in America, No. 31 in Britain), and "Something in My House" (No. 12 in Britain), kept the band interested while its members recorded their third album. .

However, time was lost, and the biggest debutants of 1985 began to forget. Released in February 1987, the LP "Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know" (an excerpt from a quote describing the eccentric Lord Byron) flopped in the US, and went only 27th in the UK; but ardent fans of the group appeared in Japan. Pete Waterman offered the group a contract with his company "PWL", but DOA refused - the melodies and products of Stock-Aitken-Waterman by that time began to look more and more like stamping, and Burns and his Co. did not like it very much. However, this step did not have the best effect on the group's career.

The musicians were saved by the fact that the demand for them as a concert line-up was still high, so the tour of the cooling America and the still welcoming Japan continued throughout 1988. To maintain the popularity of DOA in these countries, the "Rip It up" disc, which consisted of remixes and "live" versions of the group's most successful songs, was thrown into the local markets, but a new full-fledged LP "Nude" appeared only in August 1989. In most countries around the world, it failed miserably, not even reaching the "Top 50" in the world charts. Frustrated, Lever and Percy left the lineup. The third major crisis came, and it seemed that DOA could be put an end to.

Nevertheless, the British were again rescued by the Japanese - the single "Turn Around and Count 2 Ten" suddenly began to enjoy a huge success in the Land of the Rising Sun and stood at the top line of the local national hit parade for seventeen weeks. The next singles, "Come Home with Me, Baby" and "Baby Don't Say Goodbye", became major dance hits and gave DOA the opportunity to stage a huge Japanese tour, which was such a success that even the "King of Pop" Michael Jackson, touring the islands around the same time, was forced to schedule his shows in such a way that they didn't cross the DOA tour route. The "Beatle" popularity of Burns and his Co. in the East at the end of the year resulted in their receiving the main Japanese music award "Grand Prix Awards" in the category "Best Album". But that's not all - "Come Home with Me, Baby" became No. 1 not only in the Japanese charts, but also in the dance section of the Billboard charts in the United States.

In 1990, DOA decided to get more creative independence from the firm, and Epic, in response, simply did not renew the contract, and because of this, the musicians lost any representation in all territories except Japan. The duo of Coy and Burns - all that was left of DOA - had to start running their own offline operations and work hard and hard to keep their already few fans. Naturally, devoted Japan decided to spud - a new major tour and the release of an exclusive album of new material, "Fan the Flame, Part 1" (December 1990) saved the group from the inevitable, it seemed, commercial collapse and enjoyed their usual success.

And then DOA decided to take a well-deserved (in their opinion) vacation to restore creative and physical strength. Responsibilities Coy and Burns divided among themselves - Pete at this time occasionally toured the United States, and while he was chilling, Steve heroically took on the heavy burden of producer, manager and business manager. In the meantime, in 1994, the vacation, which threatened to become indefinite, ended, and the musicians, having prayed, conceived work. And they started by christening INTERNATIONAL CRYSIS, they did what they refused seven years ago - they signed a recording contract with PWL, released a new single "Rebel Rebel" there and began work on a new disc.

However, in 1995, it was decided to rename back to DEAD OR ALIVE, after which the fickle Burns, along with Coy, left PWL and signed a deal with another British company, DACO Records, which provided the duet with financial support and advertising in his tours. cities in Scotland and France. Then the already small line-up of DOA began to shake - Coy decided to concentrate on the work of the manager and left the group. Then Pete, along with the already finished material of the new album, left "D.A.C.O.", and in October of the same year, only for the ears of Japanese listeners, he released the disc "Nucleopatra".

The first new DOA album in five years was a terrible success - its sales amounted to hundreds of thousands of copies, which is quite impressive for Japan. However, his tracklist was extremely heterogeneous - here and "Rebel Rebel" (it's actually a cover version of David Bowie's glam-rock thriller), and a new version of his own mega-hit "You Spin Me Round", and a remake of BLONDIE's hit "Picture This". The hit single "Sex Drive", which was released as an advertisement for the album, turned into a real club grand. And then, for the tour, Burns began to gather musicians, so Dean Bright and Jason Albury joined the line-up. And just before the start of the tour, the next member of DOA unexpectedly became ... Steven Coy, who decided that he would not mind participating in this celebration of life again.

Deciding to release "Nucleopatra" on the world market, DOA signed contracts with several world labels - "RKG", "VPM" and "Dance Pool". The disc was re-released in Australia, Singapore and South Africa, and while promoting it, the musicians toured Australia and the United States. In 1998, three years after the original release, the album was also released in the US by the independent label Cleopatra Records. In 1999, three collections of cover versions of songs by three artists - Madonna, U2 and Prince - were released on it. DOA celebrated each with "Why It`s So Hard?", "We Will Follow" and "Pop Life" respectively.

Finally, in 2000, the release of the new DOA album - "Fragile" took place, consisting of old, popular and not so, things of the group. The composition of which changes endlessly, and only the figure of Pete Burns, now much more reminiscent of a chic lady than a "made-up man in women's rags", remains an indispensable and constant constant.

Pete Burns is a British singer and songwriter who rose to prominence through his participation in the music group Dead or Alive. In this team, he was a soloist, and the performance of a hit called You Spin Me Round opened the way for the guys to fame in 1985.

Biography of the musician

Pete Burns, whose photo you can see below, was born in August 1959 in Port Sunlight. His father was a native Englishman, and his mother was Jewish, born in the German city of Heidelberg.

At first, Pete Burns attracted public attention only with his outrageous image, but the release of the single You Spin Me Round changed everything. It was this composition or Alive that received gold status, more than 500 thousand copies were purchased in the world. The single has been at the top of many charts for a long time.

Pete Burns was initially mistaken for a homosexual due to his androgynous appearance. In fact, the musician is bisexual. At one time, he was even married to a girl whom he met at a hairdresser, colleague Lynn Corlett.

creative career

Pete Burns took his first step into music by taking a job as a salesman in Liverpool at Probe Records. In this place, it used to be very common to meet young musicians striving for development and fame.

Prior to the formation of Dead or Alive, Burns was a member of the Nightmares in Wax and Mystery Girls, who played in the goth-punk style that was so popular at the time. And even the release of the compositions Birth of a Nation and Black Leather did not lead to the creation of at least one album.

Appearance transformation

Pete Burns, whose before and after photos you can see below, has repeatedly tried to change his appearance. The musician made his lips more voluminous with polyacrylamide injections, and implants were inserted into his cheeks. The shape of his nose also changed, and each time became new.

Pete Burns has been through a lot in his life. a large number of operations. This process simply became uncontrollable and turned a guy with delicate features into something outrageous and indescribable.

And one of plastic surgery not only worsened Burns' appearance, but also tied him to the house. Surgical intervention in 2006 went wrong, and for 8 months because of this, the musician did not go out, after which he endured recovery for another year and a half. At times, Burns wanted to commit suicide. He even filed a lawsuit against the London clinic surgeon who operated on him. The judge sided with the lead singer of Dead or Alive, and the doctor was ordered to pay him 500 thousand pounds.

A lot of time and a lot of money was spent on correcting the consequences of an unsuccessful surgical intervention, but this did not affect Pete at all, and he purposefully continued to change his appearance further. And the story of 18 months of life after the tragedy was used to make a documentary film.

After recovery, the musician showed everyone his new image at the next London Fashion Week. By this time, he managed to acquire a new hobby - piercing. Burns came to the fashion show with his boyfriend Michael Simpson, with whom he was in an official relationship. Literally a year later, the couple had a fight, but their love reunited hearts again.