Happy Mondays star Bez has revealed he was homeless for six years before finding fame with the Happy Mondays.
Bez, real name Mark Berry, says he lived in sheds and slept in bushes after being thrown out of his home as a troublemaking teenager growing up in Salford.
The maraca player and dancer was homeless from the age of 16 he told the Daily Star.
He told the : “When I was growing up in Salford, I was always in trouble. "It was stuff like petty crime and all sorts of things.
"I was basically a rebel without a cause. And I got kicked out by my parents and ended up homeless."
The Madchester icon said that sometimes he was 'starving' and would dream of eating meat pies.
“I lived in sheds, I kipped under bushes, sofa surfing – I went through the whole array of it," he said.
“When I went travelling, I was sleeping on the beach. Sometimes I was starving. I used to dream of eating a meat pie from the chippy.”
Bez says it took him 'quite a few years' to sort himself out and his 'happy-go-lucky' nature saw him through.
The Celebrity Big Brother 2005 winner says that being homeless expanded his awareness and he's now aiming to help those in the same situation.
As a patron of the charity Coffee4Craig, which helps Mancheter's homeless, Bez is raising funds by launching the Bez Racing Club.
For information visit bezracingclub.com.
