JOURNEY SOLVES STAR'S MYSTE

Peter living the dream during his band’s reunion at Glastonbury 2024

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sing Nobody's Child, that country record!” Peter said, laughing, “But one night, when we were alone, the truth came out. I said to her, But youre my real mammy and daddy’

He doesnt deny his childhood had some dark moments, though. “I had a bad start,’ he said.

“I came up through the Troubles. Being called a b*****d in the playground hurt. But I dealt with it.”

He was devoted to his adoptive parents, Les and Monica, and they to him - and to his sister Lesley Ann, who was adopted from different birth parents. Then, in 1991, just before D:Ream broke through, a letter arrived for him, care of Monica, via the Catholic Family Care Society.

“My mother opened it. I'll never forget what she said. ‘Son, I’ve been waiting for this letter for you all your life’.

It was from his birth mother. “It was an outpouring of absolute trauma and grief and regret,” said Peter, as he opens his laptop and finds a copy of it.

“Dear Peter and your parents,” he read. “What you may call me is hard to know what to put in writing.

“I don't want very much from you. I just want you to try and understand what I've been through. Sometimes hell, not knowing anything, being told nothing. People saying, ‘Peter will come to you: It helped me sometimes to think you will. But when I inquired, they could not do anything for me — up until this year.

“All I want is a photo and to know something about you. I don't want to upset you, your family or my own.