Born in 1961 to a heroin-addicted Jazz musician and a Soho nightclub hostess, Graham McPherson grew up with an absent father and a mother who battled against the stigma of single-motherhood. Like the boxer he coined his nickname from, Suggs' childhood was filled with fighting and violence. In the subterranean world of London's private members clubs and 60s gangster glamour, Suggs discovered a love for music and singing. Kicking around the streets of North London he met up with a group of like-minded teenagers and formed the band MADNESS.