Andy Bell has ''nearly lost it all'' to fame.

The Erasure star admitted his bandmate Vince Clarke has helped him over the years, and although they have ''different'' personalities on stage, there are a lot of idealistic similarities.

Speaking to Classic Pop magazine, he said: ''We seem quite different, but we're very similar in how we view the world.

''What I've really learned from Vince is how to avoid the celebrity lifestyle. I've nearly lost it all to that a few times, but I've had Vince there to pull me back.''

It's a mutual relationship where both members of the 'A Little Respect' hitmakers have benefited from their friendship.

Vince added: ''Andy is the diplomat who makes me temper my opinions. Andy is such a fair man.

''He sees the good in everybody and realises there's another story going on to the one someone is shouting at you.

''Thanks to Andy, I can sit back and listen, even when in my head I'm thinking, 'Well, that's wrong'. I don't necessarily have to say it anymore!''

While their partnership is enduring, Andy doesn't think the same can be said for the pop music scene - and he even suggested the end is in sight.

He explained: ''Any art movement only has a 100-year period. Pop music has probably had 60 years now, and to me, it's almost over.

''The kind of music Vince and I created, it's the equivalent of the grand masters. My parents' records from the 50s were the beginning of pop and, in that context, 80s and 90s music was the height of how it was done.

''I can't get an angle on how pop and the charts operate now.

''You have to know how the systems work to be in it, but all the chart talk of how many streams count as a physical copy sold is an unfathomable minefield to me.''