Singer Marc Almond has paid tribute to ex-Bronski Beat man Larry Steinbachek who died at the age of 56.

Steinbachek's sister Louise Jones told the BBC that Steinbachek was fighting with cancer and died last month. His family and friends were at his bedside when he died.

Bronski Beat Synthpop group

Larry Steinbachek was a keyboard player, who created the synthpop group Bronski Beat in 1983 with Steve Bronski and Jimmy Somerville.

This was the time when they shared a three-bedroom flat at Lancaster House in Brixton. All three were openly gay, and raised their voice on gay rights issues in their songs. Their debut single, "Smalltown Boy," which described the distress of a gay teenager leaving his family and town, peaked at No 3 in the UK Singles Chart. The follow-up single "Why?" that focused on anti-gay prejudice was also a big hit and achieved No 6 spot in the UK.

The group’s debut album was "The Age Of Consent" which was released at the end of 1984 and featured the consent age for gay men in different countries across the globe.

The album reached No 4 spot in the UK Albums Chart and No 12 in Australia.

Somerville’s New Group

After the record was released, Somerville left the group to create a new pop group "The Communards" with Richard Coles. Despite Somerville’s departure, Bronski and Steinbachek continued the group. In 1985, Bronski Beat collaborated with Marc Almond to release a hit cover of Donna Summer's I Feel Love.

In 1994, Steinbachek shifted to Amsterdam and continued his work on Music and various stage musicals.

In a Twitter post on Friday, Almond expressed his feelings, stating he was "sad to hear of the young death of Larry Steinbachek".

"(I) enjoyed working with Bronski back in the 80s and having a big hit with them," Almond added.

Somerville also paid tribute to Steinbachek on his Facebook page, and posted a link to their 1984 track Screaming.

"In memory of Larry Steinbacheck (sic) whose death was announced yesterday," he wrote alongside the link.

"We were young, brave and determined. Too OUT to stay in! Thank you for that moment Larry."