Bernard Butler retires from performing

Guitarist Bernard Butler has revealed he has retired from performing.

"I'm 38 with three children," Butler told ITV´s Teletext service. "It wouldn't feel right to keep going on stage, so, no, I don't miss performing. I'm happy to be a producer - there's no-one I'm dying to work with, I'll go where the work is."

Butler became one of the UK´s indie-rock guitar heroes of the '90s with Suede, recording two albums, though he left in acrimonious circumstances during the mixing of the second, Dog Man Star. He went on to make two solo albums, two with David McAlmont, and a reunion album with Suede singer Brett Anderson under the name The Tears.

He´s been increasingly in demand as a producer, working on releases by The Libertines, The Veils, Black Kids, with his most successful work coming in the last year. Butler co-wrote, played on, and produced four tracks for the UK´s best-selling album of 2008 so far, Rockferry, by Duffy. He is currently producing the forthcoming 1990s album.

By Michael Leonard