Lee Latchford-Evans (born 28 January 1975) is an English singer, dancer, stage actor and one of the five singers of the British pop group Steps.

Early life

From

Ellesmere Port Ellesmere Port ( ) is a port town in the Cheshire West and Chester borough in Cheshire, England. Ellesmere Port is on the south eastern edge of the Wirral Peninsula, north of Chester, south of Birkenhead, southwest of Runcorn and south of ...

, Evans was born as Lee Latchford Evans, with his middle name Latchford taken from footballer

Bob Latchford Robert Dennis Latchford (born 18 January 1951) is an English former footballer who played as a centre forward. He made more than 500 appearances in the Football League, playing for Birmingham City, Everton, Swansea City and Coventry City in t ...

Everton F.C. Everton Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Liverpool that competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club was a founder member of the Football League in 1888 and has com ...

, as his father was a lifelong fan of the club. He began using his middle name professionally to differentiate himself from well-known comedian Lee Evans. For a time he was known as Lee Latchford before adding a hyphen between his middle name and surname. Before going into music, Evans was an aspiring footballer and had trials with several football clubs. He starred in a school production of '' Grease'' as a pupil at Sutton High School and went on to the Cheshire School of Dance and Drama, now part of West Cheshire College.

Career

''Steps''

In 1997, Evans became a member of the pop group Steps; they went on to sell 14 consecutive Top 5 singles (a feat for a British act, at the time, bettered only by the Beatles), sold more than 20 million records worldwide. They announced their split on Boxing Day 2001. His role in the group was mostly choreographer and providing backing vocals, and he rarely sang lead on the songs. However, he did perform lead on "Turn Around" (which he co-wrote) and the two verses of

5,6,7,8 "5,6,7,8" is a song by British group Steps from their debut studio album, '' Step One'' (1998). It is a techno-pop and country pop song written by Barry Upton and Steve Crosby, and produced by Karl Twigg, Mark Topham and Pete Waterman. It w ...

. Steps reformed in May 2011 for a four-part documentary series on

Sky Living Sky Living was a British pay television channel owned and operated by Sky. The channel's programming was aimed mainly at women and young adults. It originally launched as UK Living in 1993 and closed 25 years later, being replaced by Sky Witnes ...

titled ''Steps: Reunion''. The series started airing on 28 September, following an announcement of a second greatest hits album, '' The Ultimate Collection'', that was released on 10 October 2011. The album entered the charts at number one, becoming the band's third album to achieve this feat. The second series of ''Steps: Reunion'' titled "Steps: On the Road Again" aired on

in April 2012; the series followed the band as they embarked on their sellout 22-date UK tour. On 24 September 2012, the group confirmed they would release their fourth studio album '' Light Up The World'' on 12 November 2012, alongside a six-date Christmas tour, starting from 30 November and ending on 5 December. The group reformed for a second time on 1 January 2017 in celebration of their 20th anniversary, and later announced their fifth studio album ''

Tears on the Dancefloor ''Tears on the Dancefloor'' is the fifth studio album by British group Steps. It was released on 21 April 2017, by Absolute and Fascination Records. The album is the group's first album in five years since ''Light Up the World'', and their fi ...

'', which was released in April 2017 and entered the charts at number 2. On 5 March 2017, the group confirmed the release of the new album, alongside its lead single, "

Scared of the Dark "Scared of the Dark" is a song recorded by British group Steps for their fifth studio album, ''Tears on the Dancefloor'' (2017). On 6 March 2017, the group announced their twentieth anniversary celebrations in the form of a new single, album ...

", and a 22-date tour, Party on the Dancefloor. A deluxe edition of the album, titled ''Tears on the Dancefloor: Crying at the Disco'', was released on 27 October. In November 2017, Tozer announced that the reunion was no longer just a 20th-anniversary celebration and that the group intends to continue after their 2018 Summer of Steps tour. In April 2018, Richards announced that following their summer tour, they would begin work on their sixth studio album. In February 2019, Richards announced the group would begin recording their next album during the summer months. On 7 September 2020, via their social media accounts, Steps announced the release date of their album entitled ''

What the Future Holds ''What the Future Holds'' is the sixth studio album by the British group Steps and was their first album to be released with their new record label BMG on 27 November 2020. They had originally intended to release the project in the Spring, how ...

''. The album was released on 27 November of the same year, with pre-orders available from 8 September. The next day, they confirmed a new 14-date UK tour (with special guest Sophie Ellis-Bextor) starting in November 2021. The first single from the album was the

Greg Kurstin Gregory Allen Kurstin (born May 14, 1969) is an American record producer, multi-instrumentalist, and songwriter. He has won nine Grammy Awards, including Producer of the Year, Non-Classical in 2017 and 2018, and written and produced four songs ...

-and- Sia-penned "

", released on 9 September 2020. It was followed by " Something in Your Eyes" on 27 October 2020. "

To the Beat of My Heart "To the Beat of My Heart" is a song recorded by British group Steps, released on 16 January 2021 as the third single from their sixth studio album, ''What the Future Holds'' (2020). The single peaked at number 33 on UK Download chart on 29 Jan ...

" was released as the album's third single in January 2021. The first single from ''

What the Future Holds Pt. 2 ''What the Future Holds Pt. 2'' is the seventh studio album by the British Musical ensemble, group Steps (pop group), Steps. The album was released on 10 September 2021 by BMG Rights Management. Background In April 2021, Steps announced what was ...

'' was confirmed as a reworked version of "Heartbreak in This City" featuring

Michelle Visage Michelle Lynn Case (nee Shupack), better known as Michelle Visage (born September 20, 1968), is an American singer, television host, actress, radio DJ and producer. She first gained recognition as a member of the musical group Seduction whic ...

Theatre and Television

Evans has appeared in London's West End starring in '' Grease''; '' A Charmed Life'' as part of London's Sitcom Trials, and he made his debut at the

Fringe Festival Fringe theatre is theatre that is produced outside of the main theatre institutions, and that is often small-scale and non-traditional in style or subject matter. The term comes from the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.Kemp, Robert, ''More that is Fre ...

in Edinburgh in August 2009 in the production of '' Wolfboy''. He played the Prince in Rotherhams Pantomime version of

Snow White "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" is a 19th-century German fairy tale that is today known widely across the Western world. The Brothers Grimm published it in 1812 in the first edition of their collection '' Grimms' Fairy Tales'' and numbered as T ...

in 2010. Latchford-Evans has appeared in the reality television shows '' The Games'', ''

Fear Factor ''Fear Factor'' is an American stunt/dare game show that first aired on NBC from 2001 to 2006 and was initially hosted by comedian and UFC commentator Joe Rogan. The show was adapted by Endemol USA from the original Dutch series titled ''Now ...

'', '' I'm Famous and Frightened!'', '' The Match'' and went on to win '' Commando VIP''. In 2006, he appeared in a new reality show on

MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...

, '' Totally Boyband''. This show was from the same creators as the show '' Totally Scott-Lee'', which featured his ex-colleague Lisa Scott-Lee and her family. In 2008, he appeared as part of Team Ant on '' Ant and Dec's Saturday Night Takeaway''. He also appeared on Never Mind The Buzzcocks in October 2010. Evans appeared in ''

Ten Dead Men ''Ten Dead Men'' is a 2008 thriller film directed by Ross Boyask, produced by Phil Hobden, and starring Brendan Carr, Terry Stone, Doug Bradley, Pooja Shah, Ben Shockley, Lee Latchford-Evans, JC Mac, and Tom Gerald. It is the follow-up to the cu ...

'' (2008) produced by

Phil Hobden Phil Hobden (born 14 August 1976 in Lewes, England) is a filmmaker and writer based in the South of England. He is also notable as a screenwriter, film producer, journalist and media campaigner. Hobden is the co-founder of Independent production com ...

, and also appeared in Britflick '' Cash and Curry'' playing the villain, Casper Warrington-Boothe.

Personal life

Evans is married to Kerry-Lucy Taylor. Their son was born on 23 July 2021. Evans is a qualified personal trainer and owner of a fitness web magazine.

References

External links

FamouslyFit Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Latchford-Evans, Lee 1975 births Living people English male singers People from Chester People from Ellesmere Port Steps (group) members Upper Street (group) members