Mansfield glam rock legend Alvin Stardust dies . . . just before releasing first album in 30 years

The 72-year-old’s death comes just weeks before he was due to release his first album in 30 years.

He had recently been diagnosed with prostate cancer and died at home with his wife and family around him.

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The singer, whose real name Bernard Jewry, started out in the music business in the 1960s but became a huge star on the back of the 1970s glam rock craze scoring hits with tracks including My Coo Ca Choo and Jealous Mind.

Born in Muswell Hill in London in 1942, he moved to Mansfield as a young boy and attended what is now the Southwell Minster School.

He made his stage debut in pantomime at the age of four, and first emerged in the early 1960s under the guise of Shane Fenton, before disappearing from the charts for more than a decade.

He re-emerged in the early 1970s as Alvin Stardust - a name given to him by record boss Michael Levy.

In a statement issued on his official website the star spoke of his excitement at releasing his first album - Alvin - since 1984.

He wrote: I am extremely delighted to announce that my new album is now finished and will be released at the beginning of November. ‘Alvin’ is a new and exciting departure for me and I’m immensely proud of the finished product.”

Stardust married three times - his second marriage to actress Lisa Goddard - and had four children.

A statement issued by his agent said: “He had recently been diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer and died at home with his wife and family around him.”

Did you know Alvin Stardust when he was growing up in Mansfield?

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