Singer's money troubles

TONY HADLEY, the former lead singer of the Eighties pop group Spandau Ballet, told the High Court in London yesterday of his "desperate" financial situation as his attempts to build a solo career crumbled.

The singer earned pounds 120,000 a year when the band had singles in the charts.

But Mr Hadley's failure to hit the big time as a successful solo artist forced him to sell his home to pay off a pounds 50,000 overdraft in 1993, the court heard. "Maths has never been my forte - I would just go ,'Wow, lots of figures!' and sign forms," he said. "I was in a desperate financial situation."

Mr Hadley and fellow former band members Steve Norman and John Keeble are suing the songwriter Gary Kemp for hundreds of thousands of pounds of allegedly unpaid publishing royalties.

The case continues.