Blancmange star Stephen Luscombe has died aged 70, with his bandmate Neil Arthur paying tribute to the musican on Instagram on Sunday.
Stephen and Neil were a duo for much of their career and rose to fame in the 80s with their hit songs Living on the Ceiling, Waves, Blind Vision and Don’t Tell Me.
Sharing a throwback black and white snap of Stephen, Neil penned: ‘Heartbroken. RIP Stephen. Love you forever.’
Fans took to the comments to pay tribute to the late star, they wrote: ‘Terrible news. So sorry Neil. Love to you, family and friends;
‘RIP Stephen love & condolences to his family & friends; RIP Stephen. Condolences to Neil and the rest of the band family; RIP Stephen,you will live on forever through your wonderful music with Blancmange.’
The band, who were created in 1979, released three studio albums in the 80s, including Happy Families, Mange Tout and Believe You Me.
Blancmange star Stephen Luscombe has died, with his bandmate Neil Arthur paying tribute to the musican on Instagram on Sunday
Stephen and Neil were a duo for much of their career and rose to fame in the 80s with their hit songs Living on the Ceiling, Waves, Blind Vision and Don’t Tell Me; pictured 1982
In 1986, the duo split but later reformed in the late 2000s before releasing their fourth studio album, Blanc Burn, in 2011.
Following the release of Blanc Burn, Stephen left the band due to ill health and Neil continued performing.
In 2012, Stephen said he was unable to play on a number of tour dates because of an abdominal aortic aneurysm.
He said: ‘It wouldn’t have been too clever to ignore that, and not fair on the boys to have that at the back of their minds.
‘Turns out it’s hereditary – and the latest scan recently showed no change – SOOO I won’t be coming on the next adventure unfortunately.’
When Stephen left, Neil continued recording and performing as Blancmange and used the help of session musicians.
Neil previously said in 2022: ‘Normally we text and exchange email and chat on the phone, sometimes getting to see each other, but recently Stephen has sadly been very seriously ill.
‘I love him dearly, I’m just hoping he gets better very soon.’
Sharing a throwback black and white snap of Stephen, Neil penned: ‘Heartbroken. RIP Stephen. Love you forever’
Fans took to the comments to pay tribute to the late star, they wrote: ‘Terrible news. So sorry Neil. Love to you, family and friends’
In 1986, the duo split but later reformed in the late 2000s before releasing their fourth studio album, Blanc Burn, in 2011
Following the release of Blanc Burn, Stephen left the band due to ill health and in 2012 said he was unable to play on a number of tour dates because of an abdominal aortic aneurysm
Discussing their first album turning 40 years old Neil said he and Stephen were ‘very proud’ of their work.
He added: ‘Well, I’ve got fantastic memories of it and I’m very proud of that piece of work that Stephen and I did together, with an amazing producer called Mike Howlett.
‘If that had been the only album we ever did, it was a heck of an experience. And to see that it’s 40 years ago is something that’s quite difficult to comprehend.’
Stephen previously revealed his influences and interests included Brian Eno, Can, Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa.
