Christopher Mark Sievey (25 August 1955 – 21 June 2010) was an English musician, comedian and artist known for fronting the band the Freshies in the late 1970s and early 1980s and for his comic persona Frank Sidebottom from 1984 onwards.

[8] In 1977 Sievey formed the Freshies, with various other musicians involved including Martin Jackson, Billy Duffy and former Nosebleeds bassist Rick Sarko.

[8] The Freshies biggest UK hit was "I'm in Love with the Girl on the Manchester Virgin Megastore Checkout Desk", released initially on his own Razz label (RAZZ 10), it was reissued by the US giant MCA Records with a slightly different title ("I'm in Love with the Girl on a Certain Manchester Megastore Checkout Desk") as there were objections about using the Virgin brand name.

Sievey had written his first LP by this stage, The Johnny Radar Story, which, owing to contractual complications, was never released on vinyl.

[11] Frank, usually dressed in a 1950s-style sharp suit, was portrayed as an aspiring pop star from the small village of Timperley, near Altrincham.

Although supposedly 35 years old (the age always attributed to Frank irrespective of the passage of time), he still lived at home with his mother, to whom he made frequent references.

Sidebottom's former Oh Blimey Big Band members include Mark Radcliffe and Jon Ronson,[12] and his driver was Chris Evans.

[10] Immediately after creating the character, Sievey would record an in-character cover 'Material Boy', and send it to several major labels with the note ''I'm thinking of getting into showbiz.

[17] Despite the minimal chart success from these EPs, Frank had developed a cult following that allowed him to attract audiences upwards of 500 in Northern England and London.

[22][23] Jon Ronson first played with Frank's Oh Blimey Band in 1987, when their original keyboardist (Mark Radcliffe) was unable to make it to a gig at The Cricketers pub at Kennington Oval, London SE11.

The tour and its new sound were panned by audience members and critics alike, leading to Sievey abandoning the new line-up in 1990, instead choosing to perform solo from then on.

73 successor Motormouth,[30] as well as numerous appearances on Channel 4, including the British version of the game show Remote Control which was presented by Tony Wilson, where each week he would pose "Frank's Fantastic Question" to the contestants.

He also made five appearances on Iain Lee's programme on London's LBC as well as on numerous community radio stations such as Forever Manchester.

Frank appeared as a test card shown late at night on Channel M, where he and Little Frank ramble on and sing songs whilst framed in a parody of the classic Test Card F. On 6 March 2007, in an episode of the Podge and Rodge Show on Ireland's RTÉ Two, he appeared in their 'Sham-Rock' talent section, performing a medley of songs by The Smiths.

Frank starred in his own exhibition of drawings, animation and cardboard at London's Chelsea Space Gallery next to Tate Britain between 4 July and 4 August 2007.

[38] His last personal appearance was at the Salutation pub, Higher Chatham Street, Manchester on 11 June 2010 when he launched his World Cup single, "Three Shirts on the Line".

Sievey would be carried over to the show's short-lived spin-off, 7T3, portraying Frank in two early episodes and (credited under his own name) two one-off characters in the latter half of the series: Big Jake, the theme park ghost, and Reg the Greengrocer.

Three years following the end of 7T3, Frank became a regular cast member on the fourth, and final, season of the children's TV series Motormouth.

[42] Guests included Caroline Aherne, Phil Cornwell, Midge Ure, Gerry Anderson, the Farm, Pop Will Eat Itself, Oceanic and Keith Chegwin.

After retiring the character of Frank Sidebottom, Sievey became prop designer and set dresser on the fourth series of stop motion animation Bob the Builder.

[47] A publicly funded statue of Frank by Colin Spofforth was unveiled on 20 October 2013 at 11:37 in Timperley village,[46] the timing a reference to one of the character's catchphrases.

[48][49] Sievey was diagnosed with cancer in May 2010,[50] and died at Wythenshawe Hospital on 21 June 2010 at the age of 54 after collapsing at his home in Hale, Greater Manchester.

[53] After it was reported that Sievey had died virtually penniless and was facing a pauper's funeral provided by state grants,[54] a grassroots movement on various social networking websites raised £6,500 in a matter of hours.

[56] On 8 July 2010, over 5,000 fans of Frank Sidebottom gathered for a party at the Castlefield Arena in Manchester to celebrate Sievey's life.

The acts included Badly Drawn Boy and surviving members of Frank's Oh Blimey Big Band who played in tribute.

[59][60] It was announced in April 2019 that GCHQ had cracked the hidden codes and messages that Sievey had left around the borders of his Frank Sidebottom books and recordings.

Although drawing from Ronson's memoir, the story is set in contemporary Ireland and America, and the Frank character combines elements of Sievey with Daniel Johnston and Captain Beefheart.

A biography of Chris Sievey, Frank Sidebottom: Out of his Head, was written by Manchester author and personal friend Mick Middles,[64] and was published in November 2014.