I was in huge 80s group and played at Live Aid but I quit fame for very normal job

THOMPSON Twins star Alannah Currie has turned her back on fame after reaching the top of the charts in the 80s and even having a performance slot in Live Aid.

The former musician, aged 66, was born in New Zealand but moved to London where she pursued a music career but these days she is doing something completely different altogether.

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Alannah is an artist and furniture restorer who has her own studio in London under the name of Miss Pokeno.

It marks a huge chance in direction for the once popular star.

Her website currently describes her as a “London based artist who makes work using luxurious veneers around uncomfortable and provocative narratives”.

Her biography on her website also further explains that she “ended her music career in 1996 when she returned to live in the New Zealand bush with her two children, in order to find quieter modes of working”.

It adds: “She began casting glass and welding metal and exploring new ways of marrying art and politics.”

Alannah eventually returned to the UK in 2004 where she took her new art career one step further by studying at the London Metropolitan University.

She did a course in traditional furniture production before using her skills to put on her first art show titled England Bloody England at the Ragged School Gallery Southwark.

Alannah currently owns Doyce Street Studios which she uses as her own personal workshop and a viewing gallery for her many pieces of art.

At the height of her fame with the Thompson Twins, Alannah achieved her first top 10 hit with the track Love On Your Side.

In 1983, the band toured the US as the opening act for The Police whilst continuing to release hit records in the UK.

Their 1984 album, Into The Gap, became one of the year’s biggest releases, eventually securing a double platinum certification.

During her time in the band, Alannah struck up a relationship with her bandmate Tom Bailey and went onto marry him.

The couple welcomed a child together in 1988.

After welcoming another child they went on to go their separate ways in 2003.

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