Debut album gig ends in hospital

The chart-topping pop star, who lives in Walthamstow, had emergency skin grafts on Tuesday after being struck on the back of the head by a thug wielding a bladed instrument outside a Nottingham nightclub.

Yesterday a spokesman for Harvey's PR company, Vital Media, told the Guardian: "Brian is fine at the moment. He is at home with his girlfriend and family and getting some rest.

"His priority at the moment is to get some sleep. He's not going to worry about the police investigation until next week when he's had a good rest."

Harvey, who is dating model and television presenter Emma B, was taken to the Queens Medical Centre in Nottingham and later transferred to Nottingham City Hospital where he had surgery to the wound, using a skin graft from his body.

His horrifying ordeal occurred as he was leaving The Works nightclub after a successful evening promoting his debut album Solo.

Ashen left the premises with two girl fans at around 1.40am on Tuesday and headed towards his car, he was tailed by a group of four to five men.

One of the gang struck him from behind with a bladed instrument, slicing off a section of his scalp and hair.

Harvey, who was bleeding heavily from the wound, was helped back inside the club by door staff. The gang fled.

A Nottingham police spokeswoman said yesterday: "This was a particularly vicious attack and we are anxious to track down the gang of men involved, who were of black and mixed race.

"We know he was attacked with a bladed instrument but it was not a machete it was a smaller object."

Just before the attack Harvey, who was thrown out of East17 after boasting about using the drug ecstasy, had performed three songs at The Works to an audience of over 2,000 fans.

He was reinstated with East17, renamed E17, after his drug admission but the group never recaptured their early success.

More recently Harvey teamed up with American star Wyclef and their track Loving You was a minor hit.