Seventies glam rock legend Alvin Stardust died today at the age of 72 after a short illness.

He had recently been diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer and died at home with family around him.

alvin-stardust

Born Bernard Jewry in the East End of London in 1942, his hits included My Coo Ca Choo (a #2 hit in England in 1973), Jealous Mind (a #1 single in England in 1974) and I Feel Like Buddy Holly (#7 in England in 1984).

At age 12, he was given his first guitar and took it with him to see a Buddy Holly and The Crickets concert where he went backstage and got the band to sign it.

Dubbed Peggy Sue (after the Holly song), the guitar is now valued at $250,000, having collected numerous other autographs over the years from The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and Sir Cliff Richard.

He went on to become a huge star on stage and screen in the UK during the 80s and 90s.

Stardust had been scheduled to release his first studio album in 30 years on November 3.