Heinz Burt performed his final set in a social club in Hampshire on 24th March, 2000. Seated in a wheelchair, to which he was confined through motor neurone disease, he sang Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On, Three Steps To Heaven, and his biggest solo hit, Just Like Eddie.

He died on 7th April, after a stroke. Aged 57, the days of hit parade riches were long gone, and Heinz had £18 to his name.

About 150 people attended his funeral at Eastleigh Crematorium on 15th April. Heinz was dressed in his stage clothes for the final time, and Telstar was playing on the loudspeakers in the chapel.

A benefit concert, to help raise funds for Heinz's mother, Mrs Martha Burt, was at the Banister Ballroom, Hulse Road, Southampton, on Friday 11 August. The artists, who gave their services free, were Tony Harte, Jennie Laine, the Baker Boys, Amanda J, Dave Wicks, DJ Frank Rogers and Jeff Holland.

Below are links to a sound file and video files of that final set, created from a video shot by singer Tony Harte.

The videos and still images appear with the permission of Heinz's mother. The final one, showing Heinz holding his gold disc for Telstar, is believed to be the last photograph ever taken of him.

The Tornados, in which Heinz played bass guitar, backed Billy on some tours, and the relationship inspired the title of their debut single, Love And Fury. In 1962, they were backing Billy and John Leyton on tour, and were so little-known that they did not even have their own spot.

At the insistence of Joe Meek, they drove from Yarmouth, recorded Telstar in 90 minutes, then drove back for the show. (They were in such a rush that they did not lay down a satisfactory keyboard track, which was added by songwriter Geoff Goddard.) The rest, as they say, is history, as Telstar topped the charts on both sides of the Atlantic,and eventually sold five million copies.

The following year, Heinz went solo, and had a massive hit with the Eddie Cochran tribute Just Like Eddie, which was written by Goddard.