Glam rock cult hero Brett Smiley dies in NYC at age 60

NEW YORK, N.Y. – Brett Smiley, who appeared on Broadway in the original musical “Oliver!” in 1965 and went on to become a glam rocker and achieve cult fame, has died. He was 60.

Richard Pyle, Smiley’s brother-in-law, said Monday that the Indiana-born singer died Friday at his home in New York City.

While living in England, the British rock impresario Andrew Loog Oldham, who had discovered and managed the Rolling Stones, produced Smiley’s “Breathlessly Brett,” but it was shelved in 1974. Two Smiley-written songs, “Va Va Va Voom” and “Space Ace,” were released.

The album was eventually released in London in 2003.

Smiley was also the subject of Nina Antonia’s book, “The Prettiest Star: Whatever Happened to Brett Smiley?”

In recent years, Smiley fronted a series of small bands in New York.