The colourful life of rock band Queen's first manager was remembered at a funeral in Wendron last Friday.

Norman Sheffield, who had retired to the Helston area with his wife Chris, where he has family, lost his battle with cancer aged 74.

His funeral took place at St Wendrona Church last Friday, where mourners included his sons from London and his daughter Sam Sheffield-Dunstan, owner of Amélies restaurant in Porthleven, which is named after his granddaughter.

Norman was the first manager of the band Queen and owned Trident Studios in London, where artists including the Beatles, David Bowie and Elton John recorded tracks.

Falmouth Packet:

Having begun his career as a drummer in The Hunters, and appeared with Cliff Richard in a performance at the Palladium in 1958, Norman later bought a record shop in Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire with his wife.

He converted the upstairs into a recording studio and began to manage local bands.

Fast forward to 1968 and Norman and his brother Barry launched Trident Studios in Soho, where some of the world's best known singles of all time were recorded, including David Bowie's Space Oddity, The Beatles' Hey Jude and Elton John's Candle in the Wind.

The Sheffield brothers also had early TV connections, and it was their company. Trillion who filmed the Bohemian Rhapsody video.

Norman also founded one of the first Apple computer dealerships in the UK in 1986, importing the computers and adding adapters so they would work on UK voltage. Later, together with his sons he founded advertising agency Tableau, who were responsible for the early EasyJet campaigns, amongst others.

Norman, who had retired to Cornwall eight years ago, died on Friday, June 20.

The day afterwards Sam and her brothers selected two gold discs that now hang on the wall at Amélies, as a lasting memorial to their father.

Each gold disc represents an award for the sale of half a million early Queen albums: one is Sheer Heart Attack, released in 1974 and featuring Killer Queen, Sam's favourite track, with the other the follow-up album, A Night At The Opera from 1975.

More can be read about Norman's life in his 2013 autobiography Life on Two Legs, available on Amazon.