SEMINAL punk frontman and songwriter Pete Shelley has died aged 63.

The Buzzcocks singer, who was born to a mining worker’s family in Leigh, Greater Manchester, died in Estonia of a suspected heart attack on Thursday night.

Shelley founded the Buzzcocks in 1975 with his friend Howard Devoto while studying at Bolton Technical College.

With singles like Ever Fallen In Love (With Someone You Shouldn’t’ve)? and Orgasm Addict, the Buzzcocks became one of the most influential punk bands, alongside the Clash and the Sex Pistols.

As well as being a pioneer of punk and experimental music, Mr Shelley was an outspoken anti-fascist, and was an active member of the Manchester branch of the Anti-Nazi League, which fought the National Front in the late 1970s.

He was also a longstanding gay rights advocate, and his first solo single “Homosapiens” was banned by the BBC in 1981 for its lyrics, which reference gay sex.