Clare Grogan still has that unmistakable sparkle, the kind that instantly takes you back to the early days of New Wave pop.
Now 63, the Scottish singer is gearing up to hit the road again with Altered Images, as the band prepares to tour the UK in celebration of the 45th anniversary of their biggest hit, Happy Birthday.
And judging by recent appearances, she looks remarkably unchanged since the song first climbed the charts.
Altered Images shot to fame in 1981 when Happy Birthday reached number two in the UK.
Success came fast, but it didn’t last long.
Just two years later, the band had split, despite racking up six Top 40 singles and three albums that all landed comfortably in the Top 30.
Fame Without the Fortune
For all the chart success, Clare has never hidden the uncomfortable truth behind those glossy pop years. Financially, the band barely scraped by.
At the height of Altered Images’ fame, she says she was earning just £75 a week.
Despite releasing three successful albums, the money never seemed to reach the people making the music.
Clare has since reflected that this was a common story among bands of the era.
The industry was chaotic, contracts were confusing, and young artists were often too eager — or too intimidated — to ask the hard questions.
Looking back, she admits that trusting the wrong people and staying silent about money was a costly mistake.
At the time, discussing finances felt almost embarrassing, something that clashed with the excitement of being part of the music scene.
Back on Stage and Loving It
Fast forward to now, and Clare is still doing what she loves.
Last summer, she and her bandmates played festivals across Europe before confirming a run of UK dates later this year
. The tour marks a major milestone for Happy Birthday, a song she never imagined she’d still be performing decades later.
In fact, she’s joked that the idea of singing it in her 60s would once have horrified her.
Yet here she is, embracing the nostalgia and the fans who’ve stuck with her through the years.
The Band, the Love Story, and a Family Built the Hard Way
Altered Images’ original line-up featured Gerard McInulty, Michael Anderson and Tony McDaid, later joined by Stephen Lironi.
Stephen would eventually become much more than a bandmate — he married Clare in 1994.
Their journey to parenthood was anything but straightforward.
After enduring six miscarriages and four unsuccessful rounds of IVF, the couple adopted their daughter Ellie in 2005, a moment Clare has described as life-changing.
More Than a Pop Star
Music may have been her first calling, but it certainly wasn’t her last.
Clare also carved out a successful acting career, most famously appearing in the beloved 1981 film Gregory’s Girl.
She later popped up in EastEnders, Red Dwarf, and even turned her hand to writing children’s novels.
Despite all that success, the financial insecurity of her early career still lingers in her mind.
She has spoken openly about feeling anxious when thinking about her future, shaped by those early years when major record deals didn’t translate into real financial stability.
When a Record Deal Didn’t Change Everything
Altered Images signed a deal worth around £50,000 in the early 1980s — a figure that seemed enormous at the time.
The band had international hits, reaching audiences in places like Australia and Japan.
But the money, once again, failed to match the scale of their success.
At her peak, Clare’s weekly pay barely exceeded what she had earned in tips as a waitress while still in sixth-form college. The difference? Just £15.
Why Gregory’s Girl Still Matters
Decades on, Gregory’s Girl remains a firm favourite, regularly ranking among the top 30 high school films of all time, alongside classics like Grease and Fame.
Even legendary director Martin Scorsese has counted himself a fan.
For Clare, the film holds a special place.
She believes its lasting appeal lies in its honesty — that painfully relatable experience of liking someone who simply doesn’t feel the same way back.
Set in Abronhill, Cumbernauld, the story follows Gregory, a shy 16-year-old played by John Gordon Sinclair, who is infatuated with footballer Dorothy.
Yet it’s Susan, Clare’s character, who ultimately wins his heart.
The Role That Almost Never Happened
Remarkably, Clare nearly missed out on the role altogether.
At the time, she was working as a waitress in Glasgow when the film’s director — a regular customer — asked for her phone number. She refused.
She didn’t know who he was and followed her mother’s advice never to give her number to strangers.
In her teenage mind, the whole thing sounded suspicious and easily dismissed.
Thankfully, the director persisted. After reassuring Clare through her restaurant manager, he convinced her to meet — and the rest is film history.
Looking back, she’s grateful he didn’t take no for an answer.
Still Standing, Still Singing
From pop stardom to cult cinema, from financial struggle to enduring fame, Clare Grogan’s story is anything but ordinary.
As she prepares to tour once more, she does so with hard-earned perspective — wiser, still charismatic, and very much aware of how rare it is to still be standing, microphone in hand, 45 years after it all began.
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