Gary Numan reveals his brother has died

Gary Numan has announced the sudden death of his younger brother - just hours after breaking down in front of stunned fans during a live performance in Birmingham. 

The electro-pop pioneer struggled to continue after telling fans at the city's O2 Academy he had received 'the worst news' earlier in the day. 

Numan, 67, has since confirmed the death of his brother John in a statement, released on Monday evening. 

He wrote: 'My brother John died suddenly in the early hours of Saturday morning in Leeds, he was just 60 years old.' 

The pop legend confirmed John had collapsed after suffering a heart attack while walking to his car, just moments after saying goodbye to Numan. 

'He had spent the evening with me at my Telekon show, catching up, swapping stories, telling me about his newly found love for reading.

'I hugged him at the door of our tour bus, I think it was about 12:20am, asked him how far he had to walk to get his car (I always worried about him waking the streets at night).

'It was not far apparently, we said goodbye and I watched him walk away. Sadly, he never made it to his car, betrayed by his own heart.

'It will haunt me forever that we may have driven off not knowing that he was lying in a rainy street just yards away.

'Luckily a kind person saw him and called an ambulance, but it was too late.' 

He continued in the heartbreaking post: 'This is not a tribute to John, I can barely think straight enough to find the words for this let alone a fitting and deserving tribute to someone I loved more than the world, those words will come in time. This is to explain why I'm struggling.

'We are continuing with the tour because my Dad thinks I should, because John's lovely wife said John would want me to. I have no capacity at the moment to make decisions of any kind. 

'I'm drifting, broken, shell shocked, just watching one foot fall in front of the other. The emotion overwhelms and then backs away, it screams and then whispers. This is the worst moment of my life and I have no idea what to do, other than to continue doing the only thing I know how to do, the thing John was always so proud of. He loved Telekon. 

'He was only 15 when I made it. So this tour is no longer a celebration of an album, it's a tribute to John, my brother, the best brother a man could ever have.'

Gary left fans concerned during his concert after he stopped his setlist midway through his show on Saturday.

He was performing Please Push No More at the O2 Academy Birmingham when he broke down on stage.

According to The Mirror, Gary's worried wife Gemma O'Neil was seen running on stage to comfort him.

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Gary Numan, 67, breaks down on stage during setlist after receiving the 'worst news' as his wife Gemma rushes to comfort him

He then told the crowd he had received 'the worst news' earlier in the day that resulted in him becoming distressed during the set.

Gary's representatives declined to comment when contacted by the Daily Mail over the weekend.

The hitmaker, who has Asperger's syndrome, was then due to take to the stage at the Bristol Beacon concert hall on Sunday evening.

Just last week, Numan kicked off his new countrywide tour, which celebrates the 45th anniversary of his seminal album Telekon.

He has been performing the album live in its entirety to fans, singing favourite hits such as 'We Are Glass', 'I Die: You Die' and 'This Wreckage'.

Worried fans flooded social media with concern for Numan on Saturday, with one writing: 'Gary Numan breaks down at O2 in Birmingham?? Hope he's ok! He's heard something today but said it'll all come out in a few days.'

A second posted: 'Rough to see him so upset during PPNM - not looking forward to hearing the reason in the coming days. Can't be good. Absolute pro to battle on.'

'Hearing today that Gary was struggling in his Birmingham show, sending love,' said a third.

While a fourth penned: 'Fantastic show, very emotional. Hope it isn't anything to do with his health or his family.'

Gary and his wife have three children; Raven, Persia, and Echo.

Previously speaking about his wife, Gary gushed to the Daily Mail: 'This is going to sound corny, given that it's 30 years and four days since our first date, but I miss her even when she's in a different part of the house.

'She's everything I am not – which is most things, really.' 

Born Gary Webb in Hammersmith in 1958, the son of a British Airways bus driver based at Heathrow, he was clearly a bright kid.

He won a grammar school place but by his teens had been identified as a troublemaker. His headteacher described him as the most disruptive pupil he'd ever dealt with.  

At the age of 14 he was referred to Dr Eva Frommer, a psychiatrist who controversially used drugs to treat depression in children.

She put Gary on Valium and Nardil, which he says left him in a 'zombified' state. She also mentioned something called Asperger's, but no formal diagnosis was made.

'I don't know that I was ever officially diagnosed. I've read since that the diagnostic criteria wasn't finally established until the 80s,' Gary said.

He added: 'I think it was seen as a new thing then. To be honest, I didn't care. I just saw it as a nice day out in London with my mum.'