{"id":134280,"date":"2026-04-02T10:18:35","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T15:18:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=134280"},"modified":"2026-04-02T10:19:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T15:19:11","slug":"kbs-look-back-at-the-80s-music-scene-pete-burns-dead-or-alive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=134280","title":{"rendered":"KB\u2019s Look Back At The 80\u2019s Music Scene: Pete Burns &#038; Dead or Alive"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1545664804358300\" crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script><br \/>\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\" style=\"display: block; text-align: center;\" data-ad-layout=\"in-article\" data-ad-format=\"fluid\" data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1545664804358300\" data-ad-slot=\"8616314829\"><\/ins><br \/>\n<script>\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});<\/script><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=134280\" rel=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/?p=134280\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter wp-image-134281 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Pete-Burns-300x296.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"296\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Pete-Burns-300x296.jpg 300w, https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Pete-Burns-1024x1009.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Pete-Burns-768x757.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Pete-Burns.jpg 1080w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>By Karen Beishuizen<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Picture This:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Liverpool, England, 1979<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Pete Burns, Martin Healy, Mick Reid, Rob Jones and Paul Hornb form a band \u201cRainbows Over Nagasaki\u201d which was renamed shortly after to \u201cNightmares in Wax\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>In 1980 the band was renamed again and this time to \u201cDead or Alive\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>In 1982 the song \u201cThe Stranger\u201d reached the hit charts and the band was offered a record deal with Epic Records.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>Their 1984 debut album \u201cSophisticated Boom Boom\u201d was a moderate success but their second album \u201cYouthquake\u201d in 1985 changed everything.<\/p>\n<p>On it was the monster hit &#8220;You Spin Me Round (Like a Record)&#8221; and the rest was history as they say\u2026<\/p>\n<p>The band released a third album in 1986 and a Greatest Hits album in 1987.<\/p>\n<p>One year later Pete Burns and Steve Coy were the only band members left and released an album as a duo. Their fifth album came out in 1990 and the sixth album \u201cNukleopatra\u201d in 1995.<br \/>\nDead or Alive released \u201cFragile\u201d in 2000 which included their cover of a U2 and Nick Kamen song.<\/p>\n<p>Pete Burns released a solo song \u201cNever Marry An Icon\u201d in 2010.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>The Person Pete Burns:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Peter Jozzeppi Burns was born on 5 August, 1959 in Port Sunlight, UK from a German mother and British father. As a kid he watched his mother\u2019s need for alcohol, drugs and her suicide attempts. He also mentioned later in life as an adult that he had experienced child abuse with his mother being the abuser.<\/p>\n<p>Before forming the band Dead or Alive, he worked in a record shop in Liverpool and was an attraction all by himself with make-up and flamboyant clothes.<\/p>\n<p>He married his colleague from the hair salon and they were together for 26 years before divorcing her and entering into a civil partnership with a man.<\/p>\n<p>He was addicted to cosmetic surgery and mentioned in an interview once that he had more than 200 with his first one taking place in 1984.<br \/>\nHe was a rebel but one who never wanted to be successful.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Fast Forward to 2026:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<p>Pete Burns died on 23 October 2016 of cardiac arrest. He was 57.<\/p>\n<p>Steve Coy died on 4 May 2018 of cancer. He was 56.<\/p>\n<p>Dead or Alive released eight studio albums, seven compilation albums, 28 singles and two video albums during their lifetime. The band sold over 17 million albums and 36 million singles worldwide.<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><strong><span style=\"font-size: 14pt; color: #808000;\"><a style=\"color: #808000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.authorhouse.com\/en\/bookstore\/bookdetails\/232300-BOXING-INTERVIEWS-OF-A-LIFETIME\">Click Here to Order Boxing Interviews Of A Lifetime By &#8220;Bad&#8221; Brad Berkwitt<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"wpforms-container wpforms-container-full\" id=\"wpforms-126533\"><form id=\"wpforms-form-126533\" class=\"wpforms-validate wpforms-form wpforms-ajax-form\" data-formid=\"126533\" method=\"post\" enctype=\"multipart\/form-data\" action=\"\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fposts%2F134280\" data-token=\"1179b0cba3bbcb84dfe814aba4c5b371\" data-token-time=\"1779495784\"><noscript class=\"wpforms-error-noscript\">Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.<\/noscript><div class=\"wpforms-field-container\">\t\t<div id=\"wpforms-126533-field_4-container\"\n\t\t\tclass=\"wpforms-field wpforms-field-text\"\n\t\t\tdata-field-type=\"text\"\n\t\t\tdata-field-id=\"4\"\n\t\t\t>\n\t\t\t<label class=\"wpforms-field-label\" for=\"wpforms-126533-field_4\" >Message or Name<\/label>\n\t\t\t<input type=\"text\" id=\"wpforms-126533-field_4\" class=\"wpforms-field-medium\" name=\"wpforms[fields][4]\" >\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div id=\"wpforms-126533-field_1-container\" class=\"wpforms-field wpforms-field-name\" data-field-id=\"1\"><label class=\"wpforms-field-label\">Name <span class=\"wpforms-required-label\">*<\/span><\/label><div class=\"wpforms-field-row wpforms-field-medium\"><div class=\"wpforms-field-row-block wpforms-first wpforms-one-half\"><input type=\"text\" id=\"wpforms-126533-field_1\" class=\"wpforms-field-name-first wpforms-field-required\" name=\"wpforms[fields][1][first]\" required><label for=\"wpforms-126533-field_1\" class=\"wpforms-field-sublabel after\">First<\/label><\/div><div class=\"wpforms-field-row-block wpforms-one-half\"><input type=\"text\" id=\"wpforms-126533-field_1-last\" class=\"wpforms-field-name-last wpforms-field-required\" name=\"wpforms[fields][1][last]\" required><label for=\"wpforms-126533-field_1-last\" class=\"wpforms-field-sublabel after\">Last<\/label><\/div><\/div><\/div><div id=\"wpforms-126533-field_2-container\" class=\"wpforms-field wpforms-field-email\" data-field-id=\"2\"><label class=\"wpforms-field-label\" for=\"wpforms-126533-field_2\">Email <span class=\"wpforms-required-label\">*<\/span><\/label><input type=\"email\" id=\"wpforms-126533-field_2\" class=\"wpforms-field-medium wpforms-field-required\" name=\"wpforms[fields][2]\" spellcheck=\"false\" required><\/div><div id=\"wpforms-126533-field_3-container\" class=\"wpforms-field wpforms-field-textarea\" data-field-id=\"3\"><label class=\"wpforms-field-label\" for=\"wpforms-126533-field_3\">Comment or Message<\/label><textarea id=\"wpforms-126533-field_3\" class=\"wpforms-field-medium\" name=\"wpforms[fields][3]\" ><\/textarea><\/div><script>\n\t\t\t\t( function() {\n\t\t\t\t\tconst style = document.createElement( 'style' );\n\t\t\t\t\tstyle.appendChild( document.createTextNode( '#wpforms-126533-field_4-container { position: absolute !important; 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In 1980 the band was renamed again and this time to \u201cDead or Alive\u201d. In 1982 the song \u201cThe Stranger\u201d reached [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":134281,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[28132,17984],"tags":[34700],"class_list":["post-134280","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-columns-by-karen-beishuizen","category-entertainment-news","tag-kbs-look-back-at-the-80s-music-scene-pete-burns-dead-or-alive"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134280","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=134280"}],"version-history":[{"count":-3,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134280\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/134281"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=134280"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=134280"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ringsidereport.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=134280"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}