Dead or Alive were an English pop band who released eight studio albums from 1984 to 2021. The band formed in 1980 in Liverpool and found success in the mid-1980s, releasing seven singles that made the UK Top 40 and three albums in the UK Top 30. At the peak of their success, the lineup consisted of Pete Burns (vocals), Steve Coy (drums), Mike Percy (bass), and Tim Lever (keyboards), with the core pair of Burns and Coy writing and producing for the remainder of the band's career due to Percy and Lever exiting the group in 1989. Burns died in 2016; with the death of Coy in 2018, the band ended.
Dead or Alive, 1984. From left to right: Mike Percy, Steve Coy, Pete Burns, and Tim Lever.
Nightmares in Wax (March 1980)
Peter Jozzeppi Burns was an English singer, songwriter and television personality who formed the band Dead or Alive in 1980 during the new wave era and acted as the band's lead vocalist and principal songwriter. He sold over 17 million albums and 36 million singles worldwide and also gave successful English songwriting and record production trio Stock Aitken Waterman (SAW) their first UK No. 1 hit single. His first three albums all reached the UK Top 30, with Youthquake reaching the Top 10. Additionally, the band had seven UK Top 40 singles, two US Top 20 singles and another two singles which went No. 1 on the US Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart. In 2016, Billboard ranked Dead or Alive as one of the most successful "dance artists" of all time.
Burns in 1980
Probe Records in 2010
An Eric's Club gig flyer from 1979 depicting Nightmares in Wax as the supporting act for Simple Minds.
Burns performing at the Carling Academy Liverpool, 2008