Born Bernard Jewry, the 72-year-old achieved a degree of fame during the ‘60s as Shane Fenton, but topped the charts the following decade when he reinvented himself as a glam rocker.

His legion of fans included a young Gavin Friday whose early singles acquisitions included his Stardust debut, ‘My Coo Ca Choo’.

“He was into all that moody stuff, with the gloves, hand movements, black leather, (sings) 'I want the girl, dancing in the red dress'. At 12 I loved all that,” Gavin told us after referencing 'My Coo Ca Choo' on his Shag Tobacco album. “I’ve no problem admitting that I bought Ziggy Stardust and Alvin Stardust! And, in this song, when I say, ‘Take me back to 72, my coo-ca-choo’, it’s about sexual innocence, those days of premature ejaculation, as in spunk-a-flow, to the joy of my first kiss.”

Alvin had been gearing up for the release of his first album in 30 years, which he reckoned to be “the best thing I’ve ever made.”

Tributes have been flooding in with Andrew Loog Oldham saying: "A great one, more than once, and that ain't easy"; Luke Haines noting: "Alvin Stardust was great - a proper pop star", and Tony Blackburn proffering: "He was a lovely man and gave us some great songs."
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