Model and singer Nick Kamen has died, aged 59: Boy George pays tribute to Levi's laundrette star

5 May 2021, 14:11

Model Nick Kamen has died at the age of 59, his family has confirmed.

The Essex-born model was best known for appearing in the famous Levi's 501 advert filmed in a launderette in 1985.

Nick Kamen later had his own music career by 1986, peaking with the top five hit 'Each Time You Break My Heart', which was written by Madonna.

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His close friend Boy George led the tributes to the star, describing him as "the most beautiful and sweetest man".

Nick Kamen - Levi's 501 (comm.1984)

Full name Ivor Neville Kamen, Nick found fame in the iconic jeans commercial, which showed him arriving at a laundrette and stripping down to his boxer shorts, while several women looked on in surprise.

It was soundtracked by Marvin Gaye's 'I Heard It Through The Grapevine', and helped boost the sales of denim jeans around the world.

Madonna soon spotted him, and said she was taken in by Kamen's "charisma" and "beautiful voice".

She recorded his best known song - which was left over from her third studio album True Blue - and she provided backing vocals.