Drag queen James Lee Williams – known as “The Vivienne”- died after taking ketamine, their family has said.

Williams, who won the first series of RuPaul’s Drag Race UK in 2019 under their drag name, was found dead at the age of 32 at their home in Cheshire on 5 January.

In a statement shared in an Instagram story today, Williams’ manager Simon Jones said the “family and I feel it is important to say how James tragically died”.

Mr Jones continued: “We hope that by us releasing this information, we can raise awareness about the dangers of ongoing ketamine usage and what it can do to your body.

“Ketamine usage is on the rise, particularly amongst young people, and I don’t think the full dangers of the drug are being discussed.”

Follow Sky News on WhatsApp

Keep up with all the latest news from the UK and around the world by following Sky News

Tap here

Mr Jones added that he and the family are working with mental health and addiction service Adferiad on a campaign to “raise vital awareness and give information on how to get help if you are struggling with ketamine usage”.

Williams reportedly died after suffering a cardiac arrest caused by ketamine – a general anaesthetic that is also used as a recreational drug,

Donna Chaves, from Adferiad, said: “We are incredibly grateful to James’s family for choosing to support and work with us on this campaign.

“Their courage in sharing James’s story will help raise vital awareness of the devastating impact substance use can have. We are seeing a worrying rise in the number of people using ketamine, often unaware of the serious risks it poses to their physical and mental health.

“Addiction can affect anyone, and too many people suffer in silence due to stigma and lack of understanding.

“By opening conversations and challenging misconceptions, we can help prevent further tragedies and support those in need to find hope and recovery.”

An inquest into the death of Williams was opened and adjourned at Cheshire Coroner’s Court in Warrington last month.

The TV personality, who grew up in Colwyn Bay, North Wales, before moving to Liverpool, came third in the 2023 edition of Dancing On Ice.

The star performed as the Wicked Witch of the West in a UK and Ireland tour of The Wizard Of Oz musical and reprised the role in the West End at the Gillian Lynne Theatre last year.

Read more from Sky News:
Conor McGregor meets Donald Trump at White House
Princess of Wales enjoys Guinness at St Patrick’s Day event
Man injured by hot tea awarded $50m in damages

They were due back on stage this month as the Childcatcher in a tour of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, a role they first played last year.

Their funeral in Bodelwyddan, Denbighshire, North Wales, was attended by RuPaul’s Drag Race UK contestants Tia Kofi and Baga Chipz, along with Steps singer Ian “H” Watkins, TV personality Kim Woodburn and Coronation Street actress Claire Sweeney.

The government is seeking expert advice after illegal use of ketamine surged to record levels.

In the year ending March 2023, an estimated 299,000 people aged 16 to 59 had reported use of the substance, which is controlled as class B, according to the Home Office.

According to the UK national anti-drug advisory service Frank, ketamine reduces sensations in the body which can make users feel dream-like and detached, chilled, relaxed and happy, but also confused and nauseated.

A full inquest into the death of The Vivienne was listed to take place on 30 June.

The boss of an iconic jazz bar says he’s been left “surprised” and “confused” after his late licence application for a London site was turned down, making him question support for live music in the capital.

Steven Bensusan – president of Blue Note Entertainment Group and son of the original Blue Note Cafe founder Danny Bensusan – told Sky News: “If they’re not giving us a late licence, I can’t imagine how they would be supportive of other smaller venues, which are important for the ecosystem in general.

“For music to survive and continue to thrive and grow, you need the feeder venues. They need the smaller venues, and you need the venues like the Blue Note. It’s important for the music.”

The planned venue at a former gym on St Martin’s Lane, Covent Garden, had been set to become the bar’s flagship European site.

The club had applied to Westminster City Council to remain open until 1am serving alcohol.

However, in February, the Met Police objected to the jazz club’s application over fears it could cause an “uptick in crime”.

Responding to the refusal, Mr Bensusan said: “In every city that we’ve ever opened the club they’ve rolled out the red carpet and really tried to go above and beyond and want us there because they realise that we’re good for the economy.

“We generate a lot of jobs and we bring not just nightlife but a cultural moment to the city. I’ve never experienced this before.”

‘There seems to be a bigger problem’

Many of the capital’s nightlife venues have been struggling since the pandemic and Brexit, amid the cost of living crisis, rising rents and decreasing footfall.

Mr Bensusan says the rejection of his late licence highlights a bigger issue: “There seems to be a problem in general. A lot of music venues have closed over the years since COVID and they’re not coming back. Many people believe it has to do with a lot of restrictive policies like this.”

While Mr Bensusan has flagged the “more mature and respectful” nature of the jazz audience, police concerns seem to be around guests falling prey to crime rather than perpetrating it.

In their objection, the Met said jazz fans “leaving the venue late at night” could become a target for phone snatchers as well as illegal taxis who “prey on vulnerable, intoxicated lone females”.

Read more:
Kate Nash: ‘My bum is for sale – my artistic vision isn’t’
At least one UK grassroots music venue closing per week

Local residents also urged councillors to limit the venue’s closing time to 11pm, with one saying they feared “inebriated” club visitors, “disorientated by their emergence into the cool night air” would be “immediately vulnerable to the gangs of criminals who already prey on similar groups of people in the Soho area”.

Mr Bensusan says a proposed closing time of 11.30pm would be “impossible”, and would not allow for musicians to play two sets per night.

He said he was also “a little confused” as to why the Blue Note was denied a 1am licence while others in the area had a later licence.

For comparison, Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club just down the road in Soho has a licence up to 3am.

Mr Bensusan has now filed an appeal.

A change.org petition set up by a jazz fan in support of the club has so far attracted over 2,500 signatures.

Plans to nurture emerging talent

The Blue Note site in London had proposed a 250-capacity main showroom “featuring legendary artists”, plus a smaller 100-capacity room to showcase emerging artists.

Mr Bensusan told Sky News: “There are so many great UK artists that we want to help build. I think we can do that given the platform that we have, and our ability to tour some of the artists to markets where we are around the world.”

Many UK artists who have played in the Blue Note clubs over the years, including Ezra Collective, Jamie Cullum and Nubya Garcia, have since found international success. Mr Bensusan says he wants “to help that continue to grow”.

He goes on: “Our goal is to focus on the best artists from around the world and give them the platform to play long runs. They’re not just coming to the city for a concert and then leaving. Typically, our runs go between four and six nights a week, for two shows per night.”

The original Blue Note Jazz Cafe opened in 1981 in New York City, and now has nine sister venues around the world including in Tokyo, Shanghai and Milan. A new venue in LA will open this summer.

The bigger nightlife picture

A 2024 report from the Night Time Industries Association showed the UK night-time cultural economy was worth £33.3bn, down from £37.2bn in 2019.

The association says that over the past four years, the UK has lost 37% of its clubs, which works out at a rate of around 10 clubs per month.

And last year, City Hall was told by industry representatives that night venues were being pushed to the brink of closure due to issues including strict licensing laws.

In response, London mayor Sadiq Khan has set up a dedicated “nightlife taskforce”, made up of 11 independent industry professionals, to address issues facing the industry.

They will be advised by bodies including the Met Police and Transport For London.

In support of Blue Note’s renewed application, the Music Venue Trust said: “Having a new grassroots music venue in Westminster is extremely important both for a sense of community the venue brings to its local community and also the mental health benefits of being able to attend and enjoy grassroots music and arts.

“Through our engagement with West End Jazz Limited (Blue Note Jazz Club) we have viewed the proposals for the space which contain absolute commitments to grassroots live music programming.”

The next steps as to the future of the club should be known over the coming months.

Twenty years on from her breakout hit Suddenly I See, KT Tunstall is refreshingly candid about her early career: “I was a totally crap pop star,” she tells Sky News.

The Scottish singer-songwriter may have a Brit and Ivor Novello to her name – won the year after she outsold every other female artist in the UK – but she’s not taking any prisoners.

“You have an idea of what you should be as an artist, I think it’s really, really important to kill that.”

She goes on: “The whole point of being an artist is that you never know what you’re going to be, and you should never assume that you know.

“I think there’s something much more divine in the kind of growth of yourself as an artist that it’s not your place to know what’s going to be.”

Sharing a private thought, she admits: “I don’t think I’ve ever said it out loud, but I have always thought to myself, ‘What if the things that you have done are not the thing that you’re most known for? That there’s something coming’?”

Turning 50 next year, Tunstall’s embraced change head on, helping transform 1995 film Clueless for the stage, alongside its creator Amy Heckerling.

Working in Hollywood for four decades and counting, Heckerling, who also directed Fast Times At Ridgemont High and Look Who’s Talking, says “I always felt like the movie, while we were making it, kind of wanted to sing.”

‘It was really time to do something new’

It was a “wild ride” that Tunstall, who says she was “desperate to learn something new,” was keen to be part of.

Busking as a student before joining bands in her early 20s, Tunstall says: “I’ve been I’ve been doing gigs and touring for a long time, and it was really time to do something new and, and this is just a dream project to do it with.”

With the film’s original soundtrack featuring hits from Radiohead, Coolio, the Lightning Seeds, Supergrass and the Beastie Boys, Tunstall says it was exciting to create songs for the “explosion of genre” that was the 1990s – a time when Nirvana and NSYNC jostled alongside each other in the charts, and the Spice Girls burst onto the worldwide scene.

Tunstall’s approach? “Come up with a mega-mix feel, that it’s the cassette tape playing in Cher’s Jeep” and then merge it with the MTV music video visuals catching fire at the time.

‘Enjoy the nostalgia and relax in the theatre’

Emma Flynn, who plays Cher Horowitz in the show, says it’s the role of a lifetime having been a fan of the movie “since I was in the foetal position” and “pretty much off book” from day one.

Flynn says the show offers audiences an escape from some of the stresses of modern-day life.

“Watching people before social media and cell phones, just going to the Valley party and actually having to communicate. I think people enjoy that nostalgia. And I think it allows people to relax in the theatre too.”

And Clueless isn’t the only classic movie getting a musical makeover.

The Devil Wears Prada The Musical brings fashion to the West End, with music by Sir Elton John.

While the Mean Girls Broadway run was such a success, it got turned back into its own movie last year, taking over $100m at the global box office. The musical’s now in the West End, becoming the fastest-selling show in the Dominion Theatre’s history.

So, what’s the appeal?

The shows already have a ready-made audience of fans, created by the original film.

They’re familiar but different – building on the original narrative, taking well-loved characters and oft-repeated catchphrases – and using song and dance to expand on the movies’ best-known scenes – to the delight of the audience.

Meanwhile, the success of streaming over the last two decades means older films are easy to find and re-watch for a new generation of fans.

There’s the nostalgia factor too – looking back to a movie you loved as a child or teen means it’s already won a special place in your heart, and you’re much more likely to welcome it in for a second time.

‘The 90s are on fire in popular culture’

And the shows are not just attracting familiar audiences, but fresh ones as well says actress Charlie Burn, who plays Cady Heron in Mean Girls The Musical.

While she says there are certain “anticipatory parts of the show where people know there are iconic lines coming up,” she says there are also “parents with their kids at the stage door, that say, ‘I never knew the musical, I never knew the movie, and I loved it’.”

As for Clueless, Tunstall says it’s a piece of luck that after years of work the musical has come to fruition “when the ’90s are on fire again in popular culture”, adding “a whole new generation of kids are really appreciating the culture of the ’90s, and it just feels really perfect.”

Cher’s futuristic outfit generator may never have become a daily-dressing reality, and a Burn Book in the back of the closet would now be shared via an array of social media putdowns.

But the hefty dollop of nostalgia delivered by such shows is a song and dance welcomed by many across universally challenging times.