Anthony Kavanagh, known as 90s pop star Kavana, has opened up about his struggles with addiction, secret sexuality, and a descent into drug-fuelled sex work in his new memoir, Pop Scars. The 47-year-old, who had a Top 10 hit in 1997 with a cover of I Can Make You Feel Good, details waking up in strangers' apartments unaware he had been paid for sex, and smoking crack in a skip in Hackney with a homeless woman.
Kavanagh, who is now three years sober, says the book has helped him gain self-esteem he had been lacking. He describes being fired from his record label and walking through London in the rain, then drying off with a grubby tea towel in a pub, reflecting on his washed-up career. Despite the dark times, he maintains a darkly comic tone throughout the memoir.
Growing up in Manchester in the 1980s, Kavanagh was bullied and realised he was gay but hid it from his family and fans to maintain his teen idol image. He says alcohol became a comfort and that he and late Boyzone star Stephen Gately once spent the night together on tour. Kavanagh writes that he was chasing approval and that his pop stardom was an escape from a difficult reality.
