Pete Burns

Infobox musical artist
Name = Pete Burns


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Background = solo_singer
Birth_name = Peter Burns
Born = birth date and age|1959|8|5
Origin = Port Sunlight, England
Instrument = Vocals
Genre = Pop, Dance, New wave, Hi-NRG
Occupation = Singer-songwriter
Years_active = 1979-present
Label = Epic Records
Sony Japan
Cleopatra Records
URL = [http://www.deadoralive.net "The Right Stuff": Official Dead or Alive website]

Peter "Pete" Burns (b. August 5 1959, Port Sunlight, Wirral, England and now living in Ramsey, Cambridgeshire, England) is a British singer/songwriter and the frontman of the Hi-NRG band Dead or Alive, most famous for their number one single, "You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)" in 1985. His father is English and his Jewish mother was from Heidelberg in Germany.cite book | first=Pete | last=Burns | coauthors=Cranna, Ian | year=2007 | title=Freak Unique | edition=Paperback | publisher=John Blake Publishing Ltd. |id=ISBN 1-84454-438-9 ]

Biography

While building his career, Burns worked at a Liverpool city centre record shop, Probe Records, that became a meeting-place for musical hopefuls of the time. Before forming Dead or Alive, he was a member of the short-lived Mystery Girls, and then Nightmares in Wax, an early proto-Goth, semi-punk group that formed in Liverpool around 1974. Nightmares in Wax put out a 12" single, "Black Leather", and a 7" single, "Birth of a Nation", each containing the same three songs, but never did an album. Burns has also accused fellow pop star Boy George of copying his style and mainstreaming his unique image. He attended the University of Central Lancashire in 1993, but left after 20 minutes, pronouncing it "cold".

Fame

Known for his overt sexuality and flamboyant style, Burns shocked audiences in the 1980s with his pre-Boy George androgynous clothing choices, exotic hairstyles, high heel shoes, long fingernails and heavy make-up (although he maintains that he is "not" a transvestic fetishist, and that his wardrobe choices are based on fashion and image rather than sexual enjoyment). Almost as much as his career with Dead or Alive, Burns is known for his ever-changing appearance, which he freely admits has been greatly modified by cosmetic surgery.

Burns has had extensive polyacrylamide injections into his lips, along with cheek implants, several nose re-shapings and many tattoos. He revealed in early 2006 in a pre-"Big Brother" interview that he had spent almost all of his life savings on eighteen months of reconstructive surgery after a procedure on his lips went horribly wrong.

Burns's autobiography, "Freak Unique", was released in May 2006. In it, he writes candidly about his life and reveals that he was raped at a young age by a man who was never prosecuted. Burns also writes about his endurance of depression and his harrowing suicide attempts.

In December 2003, the BBC apologisedcite web | title=BBC News | work=BBC apology for Liquid swearing | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/3330777.stm | accessdate=April 2 | accessyear=2007] to its viewers after Burns swore repeatedly on its pre-9pm watershed "Liquid News" show when asked about his views on the Michael Jackson trial.

In November 2004 Pete Burns caused public outrage when he admitted on BBC chat show "Friday Night with Jonathan Ross" that in his youth he used to have sexual intercourse with farm animals "for a laugh". Burns and his wife, Lynne Corlett, divorced in 2006 after more than twenty-five years of marriage, though they remain friends. On 9 February 2006, in an interview with Channel 4's "Richard and Judy", Burns and his boyfriend, Michael Simpson, publicly announced their engagement, displaying matching rings made for them by the designer Vivienne Westwood. However, only a day after the announcement, Burns said that the engagement was off, as Simpson was finding it hard to deal with his new recognition by the public.

In January 2007 Burns announced that he was planning to sue the cosmetic surgeon who carried out the botched lip surgery for £1 millioncite web | title=chartattack | work=Pete Burns Sues Doctor Over Faulty Lip Surgery | url=http://www.chartattack.com/damn/2007/02/1408.cfm | accessdate=April 2 | accessyear=2007] . He also plans to introduce his own line of cosmetics.Fact|date=March 2007

Burns was arrested in March 2007 after a fight broke out between himself and Simpson. The couple are still together, as Burns has confirmed numerous times.cite web | title=arrested | work=Pete Burns arrested after gay bar fight | url=http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-1174.html | Fact|month=March | year=2007 ]

In November 2006, Burns recounted his and others' similar experiences of botched operations in a TV special entitled "Pete Burns' Cosmetic Surgery Nightmares" for the UK ITV network. Cameras followed Burns around through his recent arrest, and his determination to get his career back on track in the documentary, "Pete Burns Unspun" on Living TV. On July 6, 2007, it was reported that Pete Burns formed a civil partnership with his long-term partner, Michael Simpson, at a ceremony held in Central London; friends and family of both were present at the ceremony.

He lived in Notting Hill, London, but has since been forced to sell due to financial difficulties.

He appeared on "Celebrity Wife Swap", which aired on 30 September 2007, where he lived with Neil Ruddock for five days. Simpson also took part in this programme.

"Celebrity Big Brother UK" 2006

Burns appeared on Channel 4's "Celebrity Big Brother 2006" in the UK, eventually coming fifth on the show's final episode. After he claimed that his coat was made from gorilla skin, police removed the coat from the house, without Burns' knowledge or consent, for testing. Ownership of products made from gorilla is illegal in the UK without a licence. Tests found the coat was in fact made of Colobus monkeys, another endangered species. As a result the case was passed to the Crown Prosecution Service who determined that the pelts used to make the coat were imported before 1975, when it became illegal to import Colobus fur, and as such will not be pressing charges cite web | title=BBC News | work= No action over Burns' monkey coat | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4671372.stm | accessdate=April 2 | accessyear=2007] . This greatly upset animal rights campaigners cite web | title=bbcnewsfur | work=Police take Brother 'gorilla' fur | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/4628654.stm | Fact|month=March | year=2007 ] .

The show also saw Burns gain new fans and critics alike after his scathing verbal attacks on other housemates, most notably former page three girl Jodie Marsh and former "Baywatch" star Traci Bingham.

After his stint on "Celebrity Big Brother" he has since appeared as a guest presenter for the Big Brother spin off show, "Big Brother's Big Mouth", Burns presented four shows in August 2007.

"Pete's PA"

Burns was involved in "Pete's PA", a UK Reality TV series on Living TV in which contestants competed to become his personal assistant (PA). The series takes place over ten weeks as potential PA's were pitted against each other in a series of challenges. "Pete's PA" began airing on October 8, 2007. Burns was assisted by Donna Coulling (described as a "celebrity personal assistant"), and business psychologist Dr. Rob Yeung. The winner of the contest was former criminal psychologist Nicky.

Popularity

Yahoo! UK revealed that Burns was the second (behind Heather Mills) most-searched keyword in 2006 in their annual top ten search results.

References

External links

* [http://www.deadoralive.net Dead or Alive] - Official Site
* [http://www.geocities.com/carlo_doa The Italian Website] - by Carlo Ottavi
*imdb|name=Pete Burns|id=1047772
* [http://www.bbc.co.uk/totp2/artists/b/burns_pete/located/page3.shtml "Where Are They Now?"] from the BBC