From his arrival in London in 1980, clutching a suitcase and sewing machine, to his death from AIDS in 1994, artist, performer, musician, club promoter and fashion designer Leigh Bowery led an extraordinary life.

Chronicled here with candid wit and affection, Leigh’s closest confidante Sue Tilley describes her best friend’s journey as a creative young gay kid growing up in the Melbourne suburbs who burst onto the vibrant London club scene of the 1980s and changed it forever. Brilliantly evoking the hedonistic energy of the city, Tilley’s personal account of her life with Leigh – their best mates, holidays, clubbing, drugs, outfits, flatmates and sex lives – paints a vivid picture of 80s pop culture through their friendship and love of a good time. She also offers irreverent anecdotes of the London art world, and particularly of Leigh’s close relationship with Lucian Freud, who painted Leigh many times from 1990 onwards; and concludes with a poignant and unsentimental recollection of Leigh’s final days in hospital.

Written with the full co-operation of his family and friends, including Charles Atlas, Rachel Auburn, Michael Clark, Lucian Freud, Jeffrey Hinton, Damien Hirst, Princess Julia, Cerith Wyn Evans and Baillie Walsh.