Andy Bell
- Not to be confused with the guitarist of the same name.
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Andy Bell comes from Peterborough. In 1985, while working on the meat counter at Sainsburys supermarket, he responded to a newspaper advert that was looking for a singer.[1] He was picked by Vince Clarke and together they formed the group Erasure, which has sold over 20 million albums worldwide.
Personal life
Andy Bellis openly gay and was a longtime partner of Paul M Hickey.[2] Bell told Melody Maker in 1986, "I don't want to go out of my way to talk about it but I'm not going to pretend I'm not [gay]. I won't portray a heterosexual in videos and we're consciously doing lyrics that could apply to either sex". He told Barry Walters of Seventeen, "I want to be known as a good performer but it's important to me to take a stance. If you're doing music, you should use it for something and have substance. Being gay and open about it is my substance".[3]
In December 2004 he publicly announced that he is HIV positive and has been aware of this since 1998.[4] In a 2007 interview, Bell remarked that a complacency exists among gay men about HIV, specifying that:
- "There are definitely HIV-positive people who meet other HIV-positive men, and like still having unprotected sex. I think it must be quite hard for young gay men because there is so much for them now to do – there are so many saunas and stuff like that for them to go to, and it's so easy to get it."[5]
He has suffered from avascular necrosis (unrelated to his HIV diagnosis) and has had both hips replaced. Bell has stated that this keeps him from "pogoing around" compared to previous performances.[5]
Hickey died on 11 April 2012 at the age of 62.[6]
References
Based on a Wikipedia article
- ↑ Interview of Andy Bell on 'Sounds of the 80s' BBC Radio 2 broadcast on 11 January 2014. Bell stated the claim he was in the meat trade was inaccurate. He actually was working on the meat counter at a supermarket.
- ↑ http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/829225051.html?dids=829225051:829225051&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Apr+29%2C+2005&author=Richard+Harrington&pub=The+Washington+Post&desc=Erasure%27s+Edge%3A+Still+Sharp&pqatl=google Richard Harrington, "Erasure's Edge: Still Sharp" Washington Post "One of the first openly gay pop stars, Bell used to cover Tammy Wynette's Stand by Your Man sporting bell-bottom cowboy chaps with the backsides cut out, long before Prince or Christina Aguilera struck that ex-pose... Spain (where Bell lives with his partner of 20 years, Paul Hickey)"
- ↑ http://www.answers.com/topic/erasure-3 "Erasure" www.answers.com
- ↑ http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1494872/20041214/erasure.jhtml Jennifer Vineyard "Erasure Singer Andy Bell Says He's HIV-Positive" MTV 14 December 2004
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2007/jul/26/popandrock.hiv Hannah Pool "Question time: Erasure singer Andy Bell" The Guardian 26 July 2007
- ↑ http://www.paulhickey.com/ "Sometimes - A Life of Love, Loss & Erasure" Paulhickey.com
