Peter Jozzeppi "Pete" Burns (5 August 1959 – 23 October 2016) was an English singer-songwriter and television personality. He founded the band Dead or Alive in 1980, in which he was vocalist and songwriter, and which rose to mainstream success with their 1985 single "You Spin Me Round". He later rose to further celebrity status in the British media following his appearance on Celebrity Big Brother 2006, in which he finished in fifth place. He appeared on further television reality shows, including as a presenter.Burns was born in Bebington, Cheshire on 5 August 1959. His mother, Evelina Maria Bettina Quittner Von Hudec (1913–1987), was born in Heidelberg, Germany. As her father was Jewish, she moved to Vienna to escape the anti-Semitic laws of the Nazis. It was in Vienna that she met Burns' father, Francis Burns (who is from Liverpool), then a British soldier, at a soldiers' tea dance. Burns wrote of his childhood in his autobiography Freak Unique. He described his mother and her suicide attempts, but maintained that she was "absolutely the best mother in the world". According to an interview, Burns dropped out of school at the age of 14 after being summoned to the headmaster's office because of actions that were not in line with the Catholic school's rules.
Burns married Lynne Corlett in Liverpool in 1980. They separated in 2006. He married Michael Simpson shortly afterwards. Burns was known for his ever-changing, often androgynous appearance, which he freely admitted was greatly modified by cosmetic surgery. Burns died following sudden cardiac arrest on 23 October 2016 at the age of 57. People who paid tribute to Burns after his death included Boy George, who described Burns as "one of our great true eccentrics", and George Galloway, who had appeared with him on Celebrity Big Brother, who said Burns was "a cross between Oscar Wilde and Dorothy Parker. You don’t get more brilliant than that. RIP".
