The family of an Eighties pop singer who took his life weeks after his partner drowned on Hampstead Heath said her death had robbed his life of all “meaning and purpose”.
Matthew Fretton, 49, was left bereft after the body of Sussie Ahlburg was found in the ladies’ pond on August 4.
Ms Ahlburg, 52, a photographer whose work featured in Vogue, had not been taking beta blockers for a heart condition and slipped beneath the water unnoticed by two lifeguards.
Following her death, Mr Fretton tried to finish an album he had been working on, but two months later took his life at his Suffolk home after warning his daughter he was unable to live without the woman he loved. At Mr Fretton’s inquest, Suffolk coroner Peter Dean recorded a verdict of suicide by asphyxia due to helium inhalation.
Mr Fretton’s daughter wrote on an online forum: “It really took all of the meaning and purpose out of life for him.”
She said she is considering releasing the album and music videos that he and his partner had worked on.
Ms Ahlburg’s husband Andrew Keate, from Holborn, who is understood to have known about the relationship, said: “It has been a very hard time for everyone.” Mr Fretton emerged on the music scene in the Eighties, touring with Depeche Mode. He went on to support many of the decade’s most prominent artists including the Eurythmics, Boomtown Rats and Billy Idol.
He featured on the front of Smash Hits in June 1983, despite his only single, It’s So High, charting at number 50. Mr Fretton later became an agent for classical musicians, helping to launch the careers of violinist Alina Rinatovna and cellist Natalie Clein.
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