Pete Shelley, who died at the age of 63 on 6th December 2018, was an English punk rocker known best as the lead singer and guitarist of the 1970s band Buzzcocks.
Born Peter Campbell McNeish in the town of Leigh in Greater Manchester, he recorded a solo album titled 'Sky Yen' in 1974 before joining college friend singer-songwriter Howard Devoto to form Buzzocks in 1976 releasing their first EP 'Spiral Scratch' in 1977. Devoto left in 1977 but with Shelley as lead singer and main songwriter, they went on to have three albums on the UK Albums Chart with several tracks making the Singles Chart.
Shelley's second solo recording 'Homosapien' went to number 121 on the Billboard 200 in 1981 and the title track reached number 14 on the UK Singles Chart. 'XL-1' (1983) peaked at number 42 on the UK Albums Chart and number 151 on the Billboard 200. The track 'Telephone Operator' reached number 22 on Billboard's Dance Club Songs Chart and number 66 on the UK Singles Chart while '(Millions of People) No One Like You' went to number 94 in the UK. He released another solo album, 'Heaven & the Sea', in 1986 and another with Buzzcocks in 1993 titled 'Trade Test Transmissions'. 'Buzzkunst', a collaboration with Devoto, came out in 2002 and a further Buzzcocks release, 'The Way', in 2014.
