Pete Burns - Freak Unique: My Autobiography

The housemates were furious. The tabloids were raging. The police were called. Writing after the event it seems incredible that Pete Burns could have caused such a fuss by claiming he was wearing a coat made of your genuine gorilla. But everything Pete did in Celebrity Big Brother sparkled, rippled and caused a sensation. You loved him or you were repulsed by him but you had an opinion. Hes a natural star and it was a delight to get him to do his autobiography hed been threatening one for years and it was a thrill to work on it.

When it came to meeting him, he surprised all over again. Pete wasnt out to shock, to upset, to outrage, he wanted only to work hard, to present himself honestly and to reach as many people as possible. He was as outraged as anyone else about the gorilla incident, but his feeling stemmed from wondering how on earth anyone could have taken such obvious flippancy seriously. Better the police were out catching serious criminals, he pointed out, than trying to get to him in the house.

This was Pete all over. Direct, forthright and expecting everyone around him to be the same. The famous Liverpudlian candour is strong in him and as long as you were not superficial or deceitful, he was easy to get along with. His attitude to his career was just the same keep moving on, dont waste time. And so work on the book began immediately.

Although he was beseiged with offers after Big Brother, Pete gave generously of his time and effort to make it happen in short order. In that he was helped by the start hed made on it long before he even appeared on the show. This was the other great thing about him. Not only was he the star of Celebrity Big Brother, but hed been around the music business for years. From punk through to new romantic and right up to the present day, hes been touring and recording and reinventing himself.

He knew what he wanted and he knew how he wanted it to look. For him, the book was just another artistic expression like a song or an album. So he made sure he had a say in everything and a positive piece of criticism. In return, everyone worked hard to make it happen. He had final choice of co-writer, he and his partner Michael came up with the cover concept and Pete himself chose the title. The book, he said on numerous occasions, wasnt going to be one of those self-satisfied pop music memoirs which are little more than a series of cosy anecdotes this was going to be uncomfortable at times, but strong and honest. His approach was uncompromising but as much as it could be hard work, it was rewarding.

Pete gave great insight into his life, which hasnt been the comfortable existence enjoyed by so many rock stars, although once it seemed like it might turn out that way. Back in the 1980s, hed seemed impossibly glamorous, an androgynous sex symbol who could be pinned up in anyones bedroom. He was married, so the girls could safely lust after him, but his open attitude to sexuality made him attractive and interesting to anyone gay, straight or whatever who wanted something different from their pop music. Boy George was the one you could have taken home to have tea with your mum, Pete Burns was the one who always that bit more exciting. If there was any justice, hed be as big a star today across the board, but marking out an unique path in that way requires incredible reserves of strength.

Thats the other thing thats remarkable about meeting him. Despite his honesty, intelligence and wit, that air of self-assured superiority which characterises so many stars is curiously lacking in him. In many ways he seems fragile and almost vulnerable theres a certain look in his eyes or perhaps the way he holds his head slightly to one side. Its as if hes put so much into creating himself and his work that he has nothing left to keep the world at bay.

That aspect of him came to the fore as work on the book drew to a close. It was creeping up for weeks and, although nobody around him could say a definite time when it happened, it tipped over into illness. To the desperate worry of everyone who knows him, Petes enormous creativity has made him unbearably fragile.

For a while, it seemed as if the book might not go ahead at all. It was close to being finished, but was it right to bring it out now? In the end, taking soundings from his friends, colleagues and family, it was decided yes and everyone helped out as much as possible. In particular, his manager Aroon Maharajh provided great assistance, being determined that Petes story should come out.

The distressing circumstances make this an unusual way to start a book. But Pete is nothing but honest and if his story is to be told, it should be whole and not the kind of celebrity puff-piece he hates so much. Everyone involved in this book wants him to bounce back and as much as anything else, this is a book for Pete Burns as much as it is about him.

L Randall
Editor