Boy George carries coffin at Steve Strange funeral
Boy George has acted as a pallbearer alongside the Kemp brothers of Spandau Ballet at the funeral of Visage singer Steve Strange.
The 1980s pop icon Strange died last month after suffering a heart attack. Strange, considered a New Romantic icon had suffered ill health for some time.
The Visage hit ‘Fade to Grey’ was played as the coffin, emblazened with Strange’s record covers, was carried from the hearse. Hundreds of fans gathered at the church including Tony Hadley and bandmate Steve Norman and hairdresser Nicky Clarke.
The Welsh frontman rose to fame in the mid 1980s with Visage. His former bandmates Midge Ure and Rusty Egan said they were “devastated” by his “untimely passing”, saying: “Steve was a major face of the 80s.”
Various 1980s stars paid tribute to Strange, including Boy George who said he was “heartbroken” by the news.
Strange’s agent, Pete Bassett, said Steve was”a hard-working, very amusing and lovable individual who always was at the forefront of fashion trends”.
“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.”
Visage had five Top 40 hits after their breakthrough single ‘Fade To Grey’, peaked at number 8 in 1979.
