TV Star and Ex-Thin Lizzy PR Magenta Devine Has Died

The well known British broadcaster Magenta Devine has died after a short illness.

Born in Hemel Hempsead, Magenta Devine was best known to the wider public for her appearances on UK television, including BBC Wales music show Juice, Channel 4's youth programme Network 7 and The Rough Guides To The World on BBC2. Hot Press first got to know her when she worked in the music business as a publicist, as part of the team at Tony Brainsby Publicity. Among the artists handled by Tony Brainsby were Thin Lizzy – with whom Magenta Devine worked – as well as Queen and Whitesnake. Also on the Tony Brainsby team at the time was Caroline Crowther, who went on to marry Philip Lynott.

Magenta Devine was subsequently involved in the launch of shock-rock outfit Sigue Sigue Sputnik, with her then-boyfriend, Tony James. She managed the band, but they failed to make the long-term impact which had been hoped for.

"As a young editor with Hot Press, I always really liked getting a call from Magenta," Hot Press editor Niall Stokes said. "Because we were based in Dublin, most of our dealings were over the phone, but she knew how to sell stuff, that's for sure. The Thin Lizzy connection was important, of course, but we put Sigue Sigue Sputnik on the cover of Hot Press at least in part because Magenta was involved. When she switched to TV, I watched her star rise with great interest. She had a rock 'n' roll heart, which was important to her appeal. We hadn't talked in a long time, but there is real sadness today. Life is cruel."

Magenta Devine was always a larger than life character, familiar for more or less permanently wearing her trademark sunglasses.

That she had star quality was never in doubt. She presented ITV's Young, Gifted and Broke – appropriately, it turned out, as she was declared bankrupt in 2003. But she was in recovery mode, after a period of heroin addiction, and in 2005 she featured in Extreme Celebrity Detox. Her interest in music remained central to her life and in 2015, she was the presenter of a programme on BBC4 about the New Romantic movement.

Magenta Devine had been undergoing treatment in a London hospital. However, death came quickly in the end. She was just 61 years of age.

In a statement, her family remembered her as "a talented writer and stylish on-screen presence who was greatly admired by her many friends and colleagues for her creativity and wit." With which we can only concur...

Her former boyfriend Tony James had this to say: "So sad to hear the news. You were an amazing, extraordinary woman."

Magenta is survived by her father Gerald Taylor, her sisters Gillian and Georgina and her brother Nicholas.

Hot Press sends its condolences to all her family and friends. Magenta Devine RIP.