English musician, cleric, broadcaster and writer the Reverend Richard Coles was BOTD in 1962. Born in Northampton, he was educated at private schools, and studied drama in Stratford-upon-Avon. He moved to London, where he found fame as an instrumentalist in gay pop band Bronski Beat, led by his friend Jimmy Somerville. In 1985, he and Somerville formed The Communards, scoring an international hit with a rousing cover of Sylvester’s disco classic Don’t Leave Me This Way. Combining Cole’s classical piano technique with Somerville’s piercing falsetto, they became one of the most accomplished pop acts of the 1980s, disbanding after three years. Coles became a Roman Catholic in the 1990s, studying theology at King’s College London, before converting to the Church of England. He was ordained as an Anglican priest, taking up curacies in Lincolnshire and London, though still found time to play Dr Frank-N-Furter in a local production of The Rocky Horror Show. In 2011, he became the vicar of Finedon in Peterborough, retiring in 2022 due to the Church of England’s refusal to accept same-sex couples. He developed a successful parallel career as a broadcaster, co-hosting BBC Radio 4’s Saturday Live programme, appearing on TV quiz shows QI and Have I Got News for You, and competing in Celebrity Masterchef and Strictly Come Dancing. He was the inspiration for the TV comedy series Rev, about a suburban vicar in middle-life crisis mode, acting as an adviser to the writers. He has also published cosy crime novels featuring Canon Clement, biographies of Christian saints and an autobiography. Openly gay since forever, he was in a long-term relationship with fellow cleric David Oldham until the latter’s death in 2019. Coles discussed their relationship and his grieving process in his memoir The Madness of Grief: A Memoir of Love and Loss, and the 2022 television documentary Good Grief. He lives in East Sussex, and maintains an active presence on social media.