Peter Stringfellow

The businessman, who had cancer which he had kept private, died in the early hours of Thursday morning. The so-called King of Clubs opened many venues around the world and his eponymous club in London's West End became a magnet for celebrities. The Beatles, The Kinks and Jimi Hendrix were among those he booked in his six decades in the industry. His family have asked for privacy. He leaves behind his wife, Bella, and four children. Former boxing champion Frank Bruno was among those to pay tribute, describing him as "a great guy and king of the discos". Novelist and journalist Tony Parsons shared a picture of Stringfellow alongside American singers Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye, calling them "three legends". The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. X content may contain adverts. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. X content may contain adverts. Comedy actress Su Pollard, who worked with him, said he was "a fantastic role model for other entrepreneurs", adding that she liked him because "he was always warm". The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. X content may contain adverts. Former rugby player Brian Moore said he had spoken with Stringfellow at a Cambridge Union debate and he was "very good company". The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. X content may contain adverts. However, he only told family and close friends and kept the diagnosis a secret for nearly six years - until it was leaked in 2015. Son of a Sheffield steelworker, Stringfellow started in the night-time trade in the early 1960s and he initially held normal music nights in his home city. The Upper St Martin's Lane venue was an immediate success, frequented by international film and music stars, and he went on to launch venues in New York, Miami, Beverly Hills and Paris. The Stringfellow brand became known for its topless girls in the 1990s and he later opened an adult entertainment club - Angels - in Soho, London, in 2006. The strip club pioneer said his clubs had hosted stars including Prince, Rod Stewart, Marvin Gaye and Tom Jones - while Professor Stephen Hawking also joined him for dinner at one of the venues. However, his success didn't come without any pitfalls. His clubs in Miami and Los Angles were a disaster and put him in huge debt. He was known as a ladies' man but would neither confirm nor deny claims that he had slept with more than 3,000 women. His behaviour, often described as outrageous, earned him critics and in 2003 he was voted by Channel 4 viewers as the 18th worst Briton. Born in Sheffield in 1940, Stringfellow was the eldest of four boys and they were raised by the women in his family after the men went to war. In 1962 he served a brief prison sentence for selling stolen carpets, which he said was a sharp lesson that put him on the straight and narrow. Married three times and a grandfather four times over, Stringfellow married former Royal Ballet dancer Bella - 41 years his junior - in 2009. The pair's two children - Rosabella and Angelo - were born when he was in his 70s. The BBC is not responsible for the content of external sites. X content may contain adverts. Last year, he held his children's naming ceremony at his London club. He told Hello! magazine he had turned down Westminster Cathedral. "It would have felt hypocritical," he said. "None of that religious stuff sits well with me."