This year marks the 20th anniversary of Pulp’s landmark 1995 album Different Class, but 2015 has unfortunately began with news that’s quite far from celebratory. British mental health nurse Deborah Bone, the inspiration for “Disco 2000” — one of the record’s biggest hits — has died at the age of 51.
According to UK publication The Comet, Bone died December 30 after “battling multiple myeloma – a type of bone marrow cancer,” and in the New Year was honored “for her pioneering work in mental health.”
Bone was originally from Sheffield, and became a close childhood friend of Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker. At age 10 she moved to Letchworth, but the two pals remained in contact through their mothers. Cocker, who sang the song at Bone’s 50th birthday party in 2013, has said that everything in the “Disco 2000” lyrics are mostly true.
Cocker told the BBC in 2002: “I haven’t got much of a sense of imagination so a lot of our songs are just straight true stories — there was a girl called Deborah — she was born in the same hospital as me — not within an hour — I think it was like three hours, but you can’t fit three hours into the song without having to really rush the singing! (“We were born within-three-hours of each other”) It don’t work! So I took poetic licence and cut it down to an hour. But basically you know the whole thing was the same — I fancied her for ages and then she started to become a woman and her breasts began to sprout so then all the boys fancied her then — I didn’t stand a ‘cat-in-hell’s chance’ — but then I did use to sometimes hang around outside her house and stuff like that. The only bit that isn’t true is the woodchip wallpaper.”
Here’s more from the Independent:
Ms Bone died on the morning of 30 December, and was named in the New Year’s honours list for 2015, in which she is to be awarded an MBE for her pioneering work in mental health. She is survived by her husband Colin, her daughters Pollyanna and Jemima, and her grandson.
Bone, who had been diagnosed with multiple myeloma, a form of bone marrow cancer, worked at Hertfordshire Community NHS Trush, and she has been awarded the MBE this year for her services to children and young people.
The award-winning nurse set up the Step2health service at the NHS Trust, the Comet reports, and was a service manager for early intervention and adolescent mental health service. She also developed Brainbox, a system designed to help young people cope with stress and anxiety.
Bone’s husband Colin told the newspaper: “Learning Deborah had been awarded an MBE was a very emotional experience. Her first thoughts characteristically were for the other people who helped to make her achievements possible.
He added he will be proud to attend the MBE ceremony on her behalf, alongside Bone’s daughter, Pollyanna, who is following in her mother’s footsteps and working for the NHS.
Bone documented her journey after being diagnosed with multiple myeloma, which you can read here.