Former glam rock star and committed Christian Alvin Stardust has died aged 72 after falling ill with prostate cancer.

Born Bernard Jewry in London's East End in 1942, his hits included My Coo Ca Choo and Jealous Mind.

His trademark scowl led to Rolling Stone Keith Richards once described him as "the Godfather of British Rock 'n' Roll". Top 10 hits in the 1980s included Pretend, I Won't Run Away and and I Feel Like Buddy Holly – the latter named after one of his biggest influences, whom he once met at a gig in Doncaster.

His Christian conversion came in the late 1980s while he was married to actress Lisa Goddard, who said that it happened on a 40-minute train journey: "He was converted by a group of people in his carriage. At Waterloo, the cleaner found them on their knees praying. Alvin came home and said 'I've found God'." She said that tensions arising from his faith contributed to the marriage's end.

He was interviewed about his faith by Aled Jones in July 2010 for the BBC Good Morning Sunday programme.

Stardust was the unsuspecting subject of a This Is Your Life ambush by Eamon Andrews in 1985. In the same year he co-hosted The Rock Gospel Show with Sheila Walsh, singing A Wonderful Time Up There.

As well as his singing career, he made acting appearances in Hollyoaks, The Grimleys and Doctors. He also appeared on stage in musicals includng Godspell, The Phantom of the Opera and Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, in which he played the fearsome Child Catcher.

His manager Andy Davies paid tribute to the singer, saying: "Alvin and I had only started working together over the last couple of years because he and I believed that musically he still had a great deal to give and explore, and so we recorded an album that is a testament to an artist who gave his career to music.

"I may not have known him long but even in that short time he proved to be one of the most genuine and likeable men I've ever met. His passing is a huge and sad loss."

The new album, Alvin, will be released at the beginning of November and is described as "a collection reflecting a maturing performer, at home with the nuances of that remarkable voice".

He was married three times, first to Iris Caldwell, with whom he had two sons, Shaun and Adam, second to Lisa Goddard, with whom he had a daughter named Sophie and third to Julie Paton, with whom he had a daughter, Millie. He died at home surrounded by his family.