Sad Cafe singer Paul Young dies at age of 53

The singer Paul Young, of rock groups Mike and the Mechanics and Sad Café, has died of a suspected heart attack at his home.

The singer Paul Young, of rock groups Mike and the Mechanics and Sad Café, has died of a suspected heart attack at his home.

Young, 53, who had a string of chart successes with Sad Café in the Seventies and Eighties, collapsed at his home in Altrincham, Cheshire, on Saturday evening, a spokesman for his record company, Virgin, said. He was dead by the time he had arrived at Wythenshawe Hospital.

Young, who had three children, began his music career on the club circuit in Germany in the Sixties before joining Sad Café. The band brought out their first album in 1977 but it was the second album, Misplaced Ideals, that brought them international recognition.

The single "Run Home Girl" was a big hit in the United States, while "Everyday Hurts" went to number three in the charts in 1979. Other hits included "La Di Da", "Hungry Eyes" and "Strange Little Girl".

Young then joined Mike Rutherford and Paul Carrack to form Mike and the Mechanics in 1985 and they were propelled to success with hits such as "The Living Years", which went to number two in 1989, and "Silent Running".

Young was set to tour with them in Europe this month, and had recently returned from touring Switzerland with rock legends such as Pink Floyd's David Gilmour and his pop star namesake Paul Young.

Mike Rutherford said: "We are all shocked and devastated by Paul's death. He had a fantastic voice, one of the best rock voices of his generation, and aside from his musical talent he had such an infectious enthusiasm for the business.

"Paul loved performing. We all thought he would be singing in 50 years' time."