Madness star, Suggs, real name, Graham MacPherson, who is headlining the Uptown Festival on Sunday, revealed his mum, Edith Bower, had a daughter before he was born and put her up for adoption
Madness star Suggs’ long-lost sister made an incredible gesture for the singer before he knew she existed.
The One Step Beyond star, real name, Graham MacPherson, 63, revealed his mum, Edith Bower, had a daughter before he was born and put her up for adoption. However, after the family met up after Suggs’ sister, who he doesn’t want to identify, made contact in 2012, he later learned she had been supporting the singer in secret in the audience at some of his shows.
After Edith’s daughter sent her a friend request on Facebook, saying: “I think you are my mum”, Suggs told the Mirror: “It was a marvellous surprise to discover my mum had found her, it was a very miraculous thing for sure.”
Sharing his story in 2018 as part of his one-man UK tour, A Life in the Realm of Madness, Suggs said his mum received a message from his sister as he was showing her an invite from Buckingham Palace at which Madness had been asked to play for the Diamond Jubilee concert.
Explaining the bombshell moment, he said: “She put the letter to one side, opens her laptop and says, ‘Look at this’. She had a Facebook friend request from someone she didn’t know saying, ‘I think you are my mum’.”
As the frontman of one of the most iconic bands in British history, Madness legend Suggs has led an colourful life. On top of clocking up an incredible 16 top-10 hits over the course of the group’s 40-year history, the Londoner has also showcased his talents in various other ways, dabbling in musical theatre, TV acting, and radio DJ-ing.
Behind his many amazing successes, however, the singer has also had plenty of personal difficulties to contend with, from his wild days as a young rockstar to his painful experiences drug, which left him feeling “paranoid and alone”.
By their own admission, Suggs and his Madness bandmates got into plenty of trouble in their younger days, and were reportedly always “on the verge of going to prison”. Speaking with the Metro at the 2019 Q Awards, shortly after the release of the band’s memoir Before We Was We, Suggs appeared to hint that there was a whole host of hair-raising antics to share, enough for a second book.
Pointing toward the door of the Camden Roundhouse, where the ceremony was being held, Suggs recalled: “There’s a place over there called the Marathon and I remember someone got an acoustic guitar and smashed over their head. I can’t remember who it was, and it wasn’t me. […] Our lives were so crazy, we were all on the verge of going to prison pretty much for the whole of our lives.”
When quizzed about what exactly went on, Suggs, simply winked and said: “Things that we shouldn’t have.” He also also divulged some of their more x-rated antics in the band’s documentary, also named Before We Was We, claiming that music saved them from a “life of crime”.
Thankfully, Madness concentrated on their music, with a staggering 16 of their singles reaching the UK top 10, including smash hits House of Fun, One Step Beyond, Baggy Trousers, and Our House.
The band currently performs with six of its original seven band members and the group’s new album Theatre of The Absurd presents C’est La Vie is out now.
In news which has delighted its legion of loyal fans, Madness is headlining the Uptown Festival in Blackheath in London, alongside acts, including The Lightning Seeds, The Zutons, Dawn Penn and garage stars and DJ Luck & MC Neat.
* Tickets for the Uptown Festival are available here.
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