Paul Rutherford

Paul Rutherford is best known as the flamboyant backing vocalist, dancer, and keyboardist in the hugely successful and equally controversial '80s Hi-NRG dance-pop outfit Frankie Goes to Hollywood.

Born in inner-city Liverpool in 1959, Rutherford studied fine art at college and worked in a San Francisco antiques shop before he became a regular on his hometown's live circuit, performing in bands the Spitfire Boys, the Opium Eaters, and Hambi & the Dance, whose headline slot above Frankie Goes to Hollywood at Leeds nightclub The Warehouse impressed Holly Johnson so much that he invited him to join the group, replacing female vocalist Sonia Mazumder in the process.

Despite only releasing two studio albums, Welcome to the Pleasuredome and Liverpool, they became one of the defining pop acts of the '80s, before splitting in 1987 due to \