Visage were a British synthpop band, formed in London in 1978. The band became closely linked to the burgeoning New Romantic fashion movement of the early 1980s, and are best known for their hit "Fade to Grey" which was released in late 1980. In the UK, the band achieved two Top 20 albums (Visage and The Anvil) and five Top 30 singles before the commercial failure of their third album (Beat Boy) led to their break-up in 1985. The band has seen various line-up changes over the years, all fronted by vocalist Steve Strange, who resurrected the band name in the 2000s.
Second incarnation (2004-2010)
Steve Strange reappeared on the music scene in 2002, after several years of battling a heroin addiction and other personal problems. He performed several Visage songs on the Here and Now Xmas Tour - a revival of 1980s pop acts. Some time after the performance, Strange decided to create a "Mark II" of Visage with people from several electronic bands and projects: Steven Young, Sandrine Gouriou and Rosie Harris from Seize and Ross Tregenza from Jetstream Lovers/Goteki. After the announcement of the formation of the new line-up and several television appearances, plans for reworking old material and releasing a new record made slow progress. An updated version of "Fade to Grey" was produced in 2005. In 2006, Strange also collaborated with the electronic duo Punx Soundcheck and provided vocals on the track "In the Dark", which was included on the duo's debut double album When Machines Ruled the World. The first Visage mk II track was released in 2007, entitled "Diary of a Madman". Written by Strange with Visage mk II member Ross Tregenza, the track was co-produced by original Visage member Dave Formula. This song was made available for download from their official website in return for a donation to the charity Children in Need. However, no further new material surfaced from this line-up.  The long-since deleted Visage VHS video collection was repackaged for release on DVD in Summer 2006, though it was mistakenly titled Visage Live.  In 2008, Strange (and Visage II keyboardist Sandrine Gouriou) made an appearance in the BBC drama series Ashes to Ashes which is set in 1981. In it, they performed the song "Fade to Grey" in a scene set in the "Blitz" nightclub.  In 2009, Strange and Egan appeared in Living TV's Pop Goes the Band, a series in which pop stars from the 1980s are given a complete makeover in return for a one-off performance. The Visage episode aired on 16 March 2009, and was the first time that the two men had spoken in over 20 years. The episode focused (like others in the series) more on getting them fit in the gym than on the current state of their relationship, though they appeared to get on well enough. At the culmination of the episode, they performed "Fade to Grey".  In 2010, new remixes of "Fade to Grey" were produced by club DJs Michael Gray and Lee Mortimer to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the song. The remixes were included on a new compilation album, The Face - The Very Best of Visage, which was released in March 2010.
When was Visage formed?
2002,
2002,