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R.I.P.: Steve Strange (Visage) Steve Strange, Visage lead singer, dies at age 55 following heart attackSteve Strange, lead singer of 1980s pop band Visage, has died aged 55 following a heart attack, his record label says. The Welsh New Romantic icon - best known for the hit Fade To Grey - died in hospital in Sharm el-Sheikh, Egypt. Ex-Visage bandmates Midge Ure and Rusty Egan said they were "devastated" to hear of his "untimely passing", adding: "Steve was a major face of the 80s." Boy George tweeted he was "heartbroken" about the death of Strange, saying he was "such a big part of my life". Duran Duran frontman Simon Le Bon tweeted that Strange was "the leading edge of New Romantic. God Bless him". Fellow 1980s pop star Billy Idol tweeted: "Very sad to hear of my friend Steve Strange passing, RIP mate." Spandau Ballet guitarist Gary Kemp dedicated the band's performance in Italy to "a maverick to the end", while his brother and the band's bassist, Martin Kemp, tweeted: "RIP Steve Strange goodbye my dear friend. I will miss you!"  Strange, pictured with Boy George in 2001, was known as a New Romantic pioneer
"Up until last year he was putting together a book of fashion styles based on the New Romantic movement and it comes as a great shock. "We understood that he had certain health problems but nothing we knew was life threatening. "His friends and family are totally shocked, we had no idea anything like this was likely to happen." He had suffered ill-health, including in December last year when he was admitted to Princess of Wales Hospital, in Bridgend, with a bronchial infection and an intestinal blockage. 
 By pop singer Kim Wilde
I was very in awe of him only having just met him, but we quickly became friends and laughed at ourselves ordering sausage and mash with champagne. As we left, the press descended on us, we both pouted furiously and headed off to The Blitz club where we bumped into Marilyn and a host of exotic, beautiful New Romantics, drank vodka and crashed out at his apartment in Notting Hill. When I woke up in the spare room the next morning, I wandered through his elegant apartment to find him asleep with his eye mask on. I guess he didn't get to be that flawless without a beauty regime, he certainly had looked far more glamorous than I did the previous evening. Steve will be remembered as the most elegant and beautiful of the New Romantics at the beginning of the 80s. I'm so grateful that life brought Steve and I together, he was funny, great company and completely bonkers in the most adorable way."
He went to London aged 15 to work for Sex Pistols manager Malcolm McClaren before co-founding the Blitz Club in Soho, central London, which would become a focal point for the New Romantic movement.  The Welsh pop singer found fame in the 1980s as frontman for the band Visage
His band, Visage, formed in 1979 and their breakthrough single, Fade To Grey, peaked at number eight in the UK in 1981. It reached number one in both Germany and Switzerland, and was the first of five UK top 40 hits for the band, which also numbered Midge Ure and Rusty Egan among its members. Strange also starred in the video of his good friend David Bowie's number one single Ashes to Ashes in 1980. At the time, the futuristic mini-film was hailed as the most expensive pop music video in history.  Strange recorded a new classical interpretation of Fade To Grey with Visage last year.Strange - who admitted he faced drug addiction problems in the years that followed his early success - recorded a new Visage album, called Hearts and Knives, in May 2013, with the band boasting a new line-up. The band also recorded a new classical interpretation of Fade To Grey last year. In the intervening years, he had become a sought-after commentator on pop culture, appearing on a number of TV shows recalling the New Romantic era. In a nod to his involvement in the Ashes to Ashes single, he appeared as himself in the BBC One police drama of the same name. He also made a series of memorable appearances in BBC3 reality show Celebrity Scissorhands, winning the first series in 2007 and returning the following year as an "image consultant".
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I am shocked and Heart broken. Steve Strange is one of my idols. A true innovator and visionary. So underrated its not even funny. Wow! May he rest in peace. | |
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Prince 4Ever.  | |
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6 Degrees of Steve Strange: How He Created the Sound and Look of the '80sAdditional reporting by Jonathan Bernstein
photo: AP New York had Studio 54; London had the Blitz. Both were home to decadence, hedonism, and dance music. The difference? While Studio 54 was brimming with already-established celebrities, the Blitz gave birth to its own cast of stars who would go on to create the sound and look of the ’80s. Manning the door was the androgynous Steve Strange (born Steven John Harrington), who expected high standards from the costumed Londoners in his queue. Clubbers hoped they were flamboyant enough to get Strange’s nod of approval; Mick Jagger famously wasn’t. As word spread Thursday of Strange’s death from a ... at age 55, his fellow Blitz Kids — many of whom went on to become some of the biggest names in British music — eulogized Strange, who as the singer of seminal synth outfit Visage was also the face-painted posterboy of the New Romantic scene. "He epitomized the vibrancy and flair of the ’80s," said Midge Ure, on behalf of himself and his Visage co-founder Rusty Egan, the latter Strange’s partner in the Blitz. "The 80s would have been very different without him," added Spandau Ballet’s Steve Norman. Below, six artists and songs inspired by Strange’s new romantic antics and the beats blaring inside the Blitz. 1. Culture Club, “Time (Clock of the Heart)” While employed as the Blitz’s coat-checker, George had a rather fractious relationship with Strange, but that changed over the years. “Steve was a clubbing contemporary, fellow freak, nemesis and later a dear friend,” George told Yahoo Music Thursday via email. “‘Fade to Grey’ remains a seminal and timeless piece of music. He was the undisputed king of the New Romantics, though at the time I would have denied it. Steve was such a huge part of my life. I just feel very sad right now. God bless him.”
2. David Bowie, “Ashes to Ashes” Strange and the Blitz Kids worshipped at the altar of Bowie, but the icon was influenced by them as well. In 1980, Bowie stopped by the club and recruited Strange to style and appear in his “Ashes to Ashes” video. “He said, ‘I want you to pick the clothes and the extras and use your makeup artist, but whomever you choose, make sure they look like you,’” Strange recalled in 2012.
3. Duran Duran, “Planet Earth” At the height of Blitz mania, copycat clubs sprung up all over the U.K. The Birmingham scene’s stars were a frilly-shirted fivesome whose first single heralded them as “New Romantics looking for the TV sound.” Paying tribute to the man who validated their existence, singer Simon Le Bon tweeted Thursday: “[Steve] was the leading edge of new romantic.”
4. Spandau Ballet, “To Cut a Long Story Short” Strange was one of the “True” hitmakers’ first fans, inviting them to be the de facto house band for the Blitz. Spandau were onstage in San Remo, Italy, Thursday when they heard of their friend’s death. Tweeted Gary Kemp: “Spandau in tears in tonight. We dedicated our performance to Steve Strange. Without him we would never have been here. A maverick to the end.”
5. Ultravox, “Vienna” Strange inadvertently helped the ailing electronic pioneers to find a fresh sound and its greatest ever success with new singer Midge Ure. When Strange declared he wanted to ride camel down New York’s Fifth Avenue to celebrate the release of Visage’s album in the U.S., cofounder Ure says he promptly quit the band, fleeing into the welcoming arms of Ultravox, and bringing with him the sweeping melodrama of “Vienna.” The song became their signature hit.
6. Visage, “Fade to Grey” Strange went from doorman to international pop star when he became the frontman for the British supergroup of seasoned musicians, lending his voice to the enduring New Romantic anthem “Fade to Grey.” The singer was the sole torchbearer for the band at the time of his death, continuing to tour and release new material, including last December’s orchestral version of “Fade to Grey.”
Lori Majewski and Jonathan Bernstein are the authors of Mad World: An Oral History of New Wave Artists and Songs That Defined the 1980s.
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