BRIAN Connolly, the blond-coiffed, Hamilton-born vocalist with seventies teeny-bop glam-rockers the Sweet, died yesterday, aged 52.

Connolly died of renal failure in hospital in Slough following a prolonged bout of ill-health.

The half-brother of Taggart star Mark McManus, who died prematurely in 1994, Connolly had suffered from a series of heart-attacks.

The first of these, which Connolly always attributed to drink and drugs, took place in 1981, two years after he left the Sweet amid mutual acrimony to undertake solo career.

Having suffered his most recent heart attack last month Connolly discharged himself from hospital after a week, but was readmitted a week later.

He continued until last year to play live on the nostalgia circuit, employing sessions players to recreate the Sweet's hits on nightclub stages throughout Europe.

He also appeared on a recent Channel 4 TV profile of the glam era.

The bulk of the Sweet's chart hits, which included such alliterative titles as Funny Funny, Co-Co, Blockbuster, Ballroom Blitz, Teenage Rampage, and Wig Wam Bam, were penned by the songwriting team of Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman.

Having split from Chinn and Chapman, the Sweet found success with their own songs, notably Fox On The Run, Action, and Love Is Like Oxygen.

At the height of their fame, the Sweet, once famously described by the New Musical Express as resembling ''gay brickies in drag'', enjoyed hits both in Britain and America. At home, they were always seen as pop lightweights. Across the Atlantic they were viewed as a credible heavy metal act. Much of their appeal lay in Connolly's stratospheric vocal style.