Stringfellow loved ‘good life’ and lived it to the full

Nightclub owner Peter Stringfellow will be remembered not only for his successful business empire, but for the charismatic personality that launched him to stardom.

The businessman, who died yesterday morning, was known for a flamboyant style which helped him become a magnet for celebrities across the world.

Over six decades, A-list stars flocked to perform and party at his string of clubs – with his eponymous London club, on Upper St Martin’s Lane, becoming one the capital’s longestrunning nightlife venues.

Stringfellow had humble beginnings and was born on October 17 1940 in Sheffield, the eldest of four brothers and the son of a steelworker.

In 1962, he began his ‘night club’ career by renting St Aidan’s Church hall in Sheffield every Friday night, known as the Black Cat Club, to host bands.

But it wasn’t until the The Beatles played there that his career took off.

He went on to arrange concerts at another venue in the city, the Blue Moon Club, where he attracted bands such as The Kinks, before he opened the King Mojo Club in 1964.

Over the next three years, bands and singers such as The Who, Pink Floyd, Rod Stewart and Elton John played at the club, while some of the first Motown acts to perform in the UK also headed there.

Venues in Leeds and Manchester followed, before Stringfellow moved to London in 1980 and opened Stringfellows Covent Garden.

The Upper St Martin’s Lane venue was an immediate hit, and became frequented by international film and rock stars as did his subsequent clubs in New York, Miami and Los Angeles.

In the 1990s, Stringfellow introduced table dancing into his New York and Covent Garden clubs, before opening an adult entertainment club, Angels, in Soho in 2006.

Stringfellow was married three times and has four children – Karen, Scott from his previous marriages and two younger children, Rosabella and Angelo, who he had with his third wife, former Royal Ballet dancer Bella Wright.

He married Bella in 2009 when she was just 27 and the pair’s two children were born when he was in his 70s.

In 2015, the nightclub mogul revealed he had secretly fought lung cancer in 2008, telling only a handful of friends and family to avoid unwanted attention.

Stringfellow was also grandfather to Taylor, Jaime, Thomas and Isabelle.