English singer-songwriter Pete Burns was BOTD in 1957. Born in Port Sunlight, Cheshire to German immigrant parents, he had a reclusive childhood, marked by bullying over his German heritage and his mother’s alcoholism, drug addiction and multiple suicide attempts. At 14, he was asked to leave school after arriving with no eyebrows, dyed hair and a giant earring. He moved to Liverpool in 1977 where he worked in a record store, becoming infamous for his baroque fashion scene and for abusing customers with lowbrow musical tastes. He joined a punk band, going through a series of names and members until re-forming as Dead or Alive. Signed to a record label in 1983, they found success with a synth-pop cover of That’s the Way (I Like It) and their single You Spin Me Round (Like a Record), which reached No 1 in the UK and was a Top 20 hit in the United States, and Something in My House. Despite three successful albums, the band was plagued by in-fighting, as Burns sought to push the band away from commercial success and in a more experimental direction. Eventually dis-banding in 1999, Burns continued to write and perform as a solo artist, with considerably less success. He made an unexpected return to celebrity as a contestant in the 2006 series of TV reality show Celebrity Big Brother, attracting media attention for his extensive plastic surgery and gorilla fur coat. Often pressed on his sexuality, he refused to define himself as gay, bisexual or trans, declaring “I’m just Pete“. Burns married hairdresser Lynne Corlett in 1980, remaining together until 2006. The following year, he married long-term boyfriend Michael Simpson, remaining together until his death. After years of health and financial problems, he died in 2016 aged 57. His funeral was paid for by his one-time rival Boy George. His greatest obituary came from his Big Brother co-contestant, the politician George Galloway, who described him as “a cross between Oscar Wilde and Dorothy Parker… you don’t get more brilliant than that.” Now considered one of the central figures of the British synth-pop and punk movements, his work and bizarre appearance has been emulated by Marc Almond, Jake Shears and Lady Gaga.