Andy Bell, one half of British synth/pop duo Erasure, brings his first North American solo tour to the Wind Creek Event Center, Wind Creek Boulevard, Bethlehem, on Oct. 29.

The singer-songwriter, who released his third solo studio album “Ten Crowns” on his Crown Recordings label in May, will perform solo material and Erasure classics.

Bell — who splits his time between London, Spain and the U.S. with husband Stephen Moss — formed Erasure with Vince Clarke, previously of Depeche Mode and Yazoo/Yaz, in 1985. Clarke remixed the “Ten Crowns” track “Dance For Mercy.”

Bell’s live band includes Dave Audé, remixer/DJ and “Ten Crowns” producer with whom he previously collaborated on two mid-2010s dance-club hits.

Recorded in Nashville, Tennessee, “Ten Crowns” includes elements of dance, Eurodisco and gospel. The music videos for singles “Don’t Cha Know” and “Heart’s a Liar,” the latter a collaboration with idol/friend Debbie Harry, finally gave Bell his “Madonna moment” of looking and feeling fantastic.

“That’s how we could have presented ourselves earlier on,” said Bell, whose flamboyant and androgynous look helped define Erasure’s image. “Vince is shy as far as involving himself in the art.”

Whereas Bell’s first two solo albums — 2005’s “Electric Blue” and 2010’s “Non-Stop” — missed the top 100 of the Official U.K. Albums Chart, “Ten Crowns” peaked at No. 14.

“It’s hard (to drift away for solo projects) when you’re in a band,” Bell said. “It’s a bit like cheating on your wife/partner. Fans don’t necessarily like it.”

Among Bell’s other non-Erasure projects: remixes for acts such as Yazoo and Goldfrapp; soundtracks for his mid-2010s “Torsten” theater shows; and collaborations with k.d. Lang and Melissa Etheridge.

Bell, in December, will release “The Crown Jewels,” a four-CD box set including the original “Ten Crowns” album and bonus tracks, plus remixes, extended versions and live recordings.

Starting young

Born in Peterborough, England, Bell started singing around age 7 or 8. Bell, for whom singing always came second nature, regards female artists as his go-to music favorites.

The singer fell in love with The Ronettes while growing up, eventually recording the girl group’s 1964 hit “Walking in the Rain” for Erasure’s 2003 covers album.

“It’s so forlorn; I love singing about unrequited love,” said Bell, tying the song to the sentiment and rainy imagery of an early Erasure single and video, respectively. “With our first video hit, ‘Sometimes,’ there’s a scene on a rooftop. I’m in a wet T-shirt, drenched, feeling all alone.”

Bell, who moved to London at age 17 in the early 1980s, performed in a band called The Void and duo Dinger, the latter using Bell’s nickname as its moniker. Dinger had trouble landing a record deal, leaving Bell to go on his own and answer ads in the paper.

“I found an ad from Vince, who was my musical hero. Vince was doing a new project. I thought, ‘Maybe I should write him a letter.’ The ad happened to be for him. I thought, ‘This is kismet.’ ”

Clarke, Bell said, “was looking for someone who wasn’t going to be too rock ‘n’ roll. I was shy, painfully so. It took six months of him coaxing me in the studio. After a while, we became friends.”

Failure doesn’t mean defeat

After Erasure’s 1986 debut set “Wonderland” flopped, Bell “thought Vince would dump me. We toured the country in a van and started building a following. I’m grateful to Vince for sticking with me.”

Erasure, a U.K. chart superstar and U.S. dance-charts mainstay, scored a U.S. million-plus seller with 1988’s “The Innocents.” The album spawned the classic hits “Chains of Love” and “A Little Respect.”

Erasure’s other U.S. hits include a 1992 cover of ABBA’s “Take a Chance on Me,” plus 1994’s “Always” and 1997’s “In My Arms.” One of Bell’s biggest disappointments was the performance of 1995’s “Erasure” album, a no-show in the U.K. top 10 following five consecutive No. 1s.

“At that time, Britpop became a thing. It happened before the bubble burst in the music biz, going from CDs to MP3s. We caught the biz before it fell off the shelf. We fell off before the rest fell off.”

Leading a cause

Despite Erasure’s success, Bell wishes the twosome would have had more exposure.

“Being an out gay man in the ’80s didn’t make it easy on myself. I loved my voice and performing. I wish we would have had more exposure on TV and stuff.”

Erasure, which released its 19th studio album in 2022, plans to mark its 40th anniversary with a new album in 2026. Brit and Independent Music awards rank among the pair’s accolades.

LGBTQ+ outlets also have honored Erasure, with the duo winning Attitude magazine’s 2017 Icon Award and Bell receiving the British LGBT Awards’ 2023 Lifetime Achievement award.

Bell, considering his impact on the LGBTQ+ community and beyond, likes “to think people like my voice, that my voice has been a healing instrument. I hope people see that maybe I helped them be understood by people that wouldn’t otherwise get them.”