THERE are many reasons you might revisit your past. You could question your place in the universe after a family tragedy or be inspired by clues from your family tree.

But it was the death of his cat that caused Suggs to have an epiphany.

The frontman of Madness was 50 last January. He was lying in the bath on his birthday nursing a hangover when there was an almighty crash.

“I jumped out of the water,” he said. “And there, lying amid shards of broken glass, was our four-year-old cat, Mamba.

“I’d put up the glass shelf myself and it must have given way.

“I was 50. My kids had recently left home and now the cat was dead.

“It triggered a deluge of emotion. I began to consider my own mortality and, out of that, the idea for exploring my own past somehow crystallised.”

The result is a one-man stage show which is coming to Preston’s Charter Theatre next Friday.

“I toyed with calling it Mad-Life Crisis,” added Suggs. “In the end, though, I’ve called it My Life Story, which won’t win any prizes for originality but does tell you what you can expect — the good bits and the darker moments.”

It turns out there have been plenty of both. Born Graham McPherson in Hastings, he is the only child of jazz singer Edith and father William, who worked for a photographic developers but whose life was increasingly overtaken by drugs.

After the marriage ended, he and his mum moved to Liverpool, then London and Pembrokeshire.

By the time Suggs was going to comprehensive school, he was back in London, and it was there that he gained his nickname. He said: “I was looking through a book of my mum’s about jazz musicians. I took a pin and, eyes closed, stuck it into the middle of a page.

“It went through the name Peter, which didn’t seem especially memorable, and then I noticed his second name was Suggs, which somehow resonated with me. He was the drummer in an obscure Kentucky jazz band.”

By 21, Suggs had a wife — the singer Bette Bright, best known for her work with Deaf School — a daughter and a mews house in Camden thanks to Madness’s regular appearances in the Top 10 with songs such as Our House and Baggy Trousers.

Suggs and Bette are still together three decades later and their daughters Scarlett, 29 and Viva, 25, sing as a duo.

Suggs described 2012 as an ‘extraordinary year’ in which Madness were busier than ever including performing at both Olympics and Jubilee celebrations. The only problem now for Suggs is shoehorning his less-than-conventional life into one evening.

He said: “When we were rehearsing, my keyboard player would stop every so often and say: ‘Was that bit really true?’ And it was, all of it. Amazing, really.”

  • Suggs: My Life Story, Charter Theatre, Preston, Friday, May 31.