Peter Stringfellow is a national treasure and legendary nightclub owner, who is currently celebrating two huge milestones - 32 years of Stringfellows and 50 years in showbiz.

The Sheffield-born entrepreneur has had an extraordinary life, building his dreams out of the rubble of the Blitz, surviving a prison sentence, bankruptcy, two divorces and the New York Mafia to see his name up in lights on both sides of the Atlantic.

And he has played a supporting role in every musical genre, fad and style since the dawn of pop itself, seeing him book the likes of The Beatles for £50, and Jimi Hendrix for a humble £60 as well as Tina Turner, Stevie Wonder and The Small Faces during his work as a top music promoter and owner of Sheffield's infamous Black Cat Club and King Mojo Club.

He even set up his own record label, Hippodrome Records when he bought the Hippodrome and set up the legendary Live from the Hippodrome TV show, which featured stars including Gloria Estefan, Barry Manilow and a regular show hosted by Jools Holland, with live performances from stars including Take That. Stringfellow owned the club for nearly a decade.

Stringfellow's label even signed stars including Motown singer Edwin Starr and the legendary Dusty Springfield, who he nudged out of retirement to record final track, Sometimes Like Butterflies.

Peter opened clubs in New York, Miami and LA, although the fast expansion led to bankruptcy and an unsavoury run-in with the mafia. Learning a valuable lesson, he bought back the lease of the original Stringfellows from receivers and built Stringfellows and Angels, into two of the most successful and infamous clubs in London.

He was also the first club owner to secure a fully-nude licence from Westminster Council and has welcomed a galaxy of stars through the doors of his famous club, including Stephen Hawking, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder, Simon Cowell, Ginger Rogers, Fred Astaire, Tom Jones, Russell Brand (for his stag night) and Christian Slater, who was thrown out for refusing to remove his Richard Nixon mask.

With his strong political views and support of the royal family, Peter has also secured a host powerful friends over the years, including Margaret Thatcher, Princess Diana and Boris Johnson.

The northern lad, who started as a cinema projectionist, steel worker and member of the British Merchant Navy has had an extraordinary life and, now in his 71st year, Stringfellow is still going strong with a booming business and is trying for a baby with his beautiful wife, former Royal Ballet dancer Bella.

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