Steve Strange (1959 – 2015) was one of the most influential figures in the London club circuit that launched the New Romantic movement of the early 1980s, and a pop star with his own band. Strange was also the flamboyant host of a string of nightclubs that powerfully influenced the London fashion and music scenes in the aftermath of punk.

In 1979, Strange formed Visage with Rusty Egan and Midge Ure and they released the unsuccessful single Tar. It was the intervention of David Bowie that put them on the map. Bowie recruited Strange to appear in his video for Ashes to Ashes, which hugely boosted Strange’s profile when the song went to No.1 in 1980. The same year, Visage released their career defining song Fade to Grey, and enjoyed international success with their debut album. A follow up single The Damned Don’t Cry also enjoyed chart success.

In the 1990s, Strange began spending periods of time in Ibiza, where he became involved in the developing music scene and hosted the Double Bass club. In 2004, Strange re-formed Visage, and recorded the song Diaries of a Madman. In 2006, he co-wrote and performed on the track In The Dark for the electronic duo Punx Soundcheck, and in 2013 a new Visage album, Hearts and Knives, was released (their first collection of new material for 29 years). The band played dates in the UK and Europe, and recorded a new version of Fade to Grey. Steve Strange died in 2015.