Richard Abidin Breen (born 29 June 1979), better known as Abz Love, is an English singer, rapper, and songwriter. Abz is a member of the boy band

Five 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 digits on their limbs. Mathematics 5 is a Fermat pri ...

and was also a member of the supergroup Boyz on Block. In 2003, he released his debut solo album, ''

Abstract Theory ''Abstract Theory'' is the debut solo album released by former Five (group), Five member Abz Love, Abs. The album was released on 1 September 2003, peaking at No. 29 on the UK Albums Chart. The album failed to find success elsewhere, and resulte ...

'', which earned him a further three top-ten hits. In 2013, he appeared on ''

All Star Mr & Mrs ''All Star Mr & Mrs'' is a British television show which first began airing on 12 April 2008 on ITV. It is a celebrity revival of the original '' Mr and Mrs'' that aired on ITV from 1968 to 1988 with two separate revivals in 1995–1996 and 1 ...

'' and became the runner-up for Channel 5's '' Celebrity Big Brother 12''. In 2015, Love starred in

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

's documentary series ''Country Strife: Abz on the Farm'', followed by a Christmas special titled ''Country Strife: Abz on the Christmas Farm''.

Early life

Richard Abidin Breen was born in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

Turkish Turkish may refer to: * Something related to Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities in the former Ottoman Empire * The w ...

father Turan Sanveren and Irish mother Kathleen Breen. He was raised on a council estate in Hackney,

East London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

, where he was brought up until he left home at 16 to join boyband

. He attended

Cardinal Pole Catholic School Cardinal Pole Catholic School is a mixed converter academy, located in the Homerton area of the London Borough of Hackney, United Kingdom. History Since the 'Building Schools for the Future' programme, all pupils (years 7-13) have been hous ...

in East London, and won a scholarship to attend the Italia Conti Stage School, where he studied acting. One day his teacher suggested he audition for a boy band that was being put together by

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality and businessman. He has judged on the British television talent competition shows ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003), ''The X Factor (British TV series), The X Factor UK ...

. After performing in front of Cowell and a panel of managers, Abz was chosen from over 3,000 auditionees to be in the band

(also known as 5ive). He changed his name to Abs in order to avoid confusion with bandmate Ritchie Neville. Five went on to have international success, winning a Brit Award for Best Pop Act 2000, an MTV award and ASCAP awards for songwriting. Abz and fellow Five members

Jason "J" Brown Jason Paul "J" Brown (born 13 June 1976) is an English singer and rapper. He is best known as a member, singer and rapper of boy band Five. Career In 1997, Brown auditioned for Five, a new boy band-style group with "attitude and edge" and was e ...

and

Sean Conlon Sean Kieran Conlon (born 20 May 1981) is an English singer and songwriter. He is best known as a member of boy band Five. Early life Conlon was born in Leeds, West Yorkshire, of Irish and Trinidadian descent and has a brother and two sisters. ...

were involved in writing many of the band's hits such as " Everybody Get Up", " Keep On Movin" and "

If Ya Gettin' Down "If Ya Gettin' Down" is a single by English boy band Five. It was released on 19 July 1999 as the lead single from their second studio album, '' Invincible'' (1999). It was co-written by Richard Stannard, Julian Gallagher, and band members J ...

Career

In 1997, Abz auditioned for Five, a new boy band-style group with "attitude and edge" and was eventually selected to be part of the band along with Ritchie Neville,

Scott Robinson Scott Robinson may refer to: * Scott Robinson (jazz musician) (born 1959), American jazz musician * Scott Robinson (ice hockey) (born 1964), Canadian National Hockey League player * Scott Robinson (singer) (born 1979), English singer in the boy ban ...

and

. Five subsequently were signed by

and

BMG BMG may refer to: Organizations Music publishing companies * Bertelsmann Music Group, a 1987–2008 division of Bertelsmann that was purchased by Sony on October 1, 2008 ** Sony BMG, a 2004–2008 joint venture of Bertelsmann and Sony that was pur ...

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

for a six-album deal. Five went on to enjoy massive success worldwide, selling over 20 million records in their four years. The group sold around 20 million copies worldwide. The band split up on 27 September 2001.
Apple.com. Retrieved on 4 August 2023. In 2006 Five attempted a comeback without Conlon, but failed to sign with a new label and the band disbanded again. After Five split, Abz was signed to

Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...

as a solo artist and became the only band member to release a solo album. ''

'' had three top 10 hits on the UK singles chart with " What You Got" ( 4), "

Stop Sign A stop sign is a traffic sign designed to notify drivers that they must come to a complete stop and make sure the intersection (road), intersection (or level crossing, railroad crossing) is safely clear of vehicles and pedestrians before contin ...

" (No. 10), and "Miss Perfect" (No. 5). ''Abstract Theory'' reached No. 29 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

. After he was fired from Sony in December 2003, he changed his name to Abz Love and took a long hiatus from his music career. He told

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

that the change from "Abs" to "Abz" was because he was bored of "everyone referencing the six-pack". In January 2013, Five returned to star the

ITV2 ITV2 is a Television in the United Kingdom, British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the fiv ...

's reality show ''

The Big Reunion ''The Big Reunion'' is a British reality-documentary series that began airing on ITV2 on 31 January 2013. The show featured chart-topping bands who were big in the UK pop music scene between the 1990s and early 2000s, and the programme followed ...

''. Brown didn't want to rejoin the group and Five announced that they were considering a new fifth member for the comeback, but withdrew to continue with the original four-member lineup. The band decided to continue as a four-piece performing live touring Europe. Also in 2013, Love was runner-up of '' Celebrity Big Brother 12''. Love said he agreed to join the reality show because he was financially broke and living with his aunt Wendy. In August 2014 Love left Five, citing creative differences – years later he said he was unhappy just singing the hit songs and not recording new material. In 2015 he starred in his own reality show, ''Country Strife: Abz on the Farm'', a docu-series aired on

about his rural life in a farm in Wales. The show became a cult hit with viewers and critics alike. In January 2016, Abz released his first solo single in over a decade, "Cockadoodledoo". From 2019, Love was a member of the supergroup Boyz on Block, along with Ben Ofoedu from

Phats & Small Phats & Small are a British electronic dance music duo formed in Brighton, in 1998, and composed of Jason "Phats" Hayward and Russell Small. They are best known for their single " Turn Around", which became an international hit in 1999. Musical ...

Dane Bowers Dane Bowers is an English singer, songwriter, producer and DJ. He is a part of Contemporary R&B, R&B boy band Another Level (group), Another Level. Bowers has also had solo success. He has made TV appearances on ''Celebrity Big Brother (British ...

from Another Level and

Shane Lynch Shane Eamon Mark Stephen Lynch (born 3 July 1976) is an Irish singer, best known as a member of Boyzone. He has also taken part in auto racing, participated in reality shows such as ''Celebrity Big Brother (British TV series), Celebrity Big Bro ...

from

Boyzone Boyzone were an Irish boy band created in 1993 by the talent manager Louis Walsh. Before even recording any material, Boyzone made an appearance on RTÉ's ''The Late Late Show (Ireland), The Late Late Show''. Its most successful line-up was co ...

. On 20 November 2020, the group released their first single, a cover of

East 17 East 17 are an English pop boy band started by Tony Mortimer, Brian Harvey, John Hendy, and Terry Coldwell in 1991. They are best known for their 1994 hit single " Stay Another Day", which was the UK Christmas number one that year. The g ...

's 1994 single "

Stay Another Day "Stay Another Day" is a song recorded by British boy band East 17, released on 21 November 1994 by London Records as the third single from their second album, ''Steam'' (1994). The song was written by band member Tony Mortimer with Rob Kean an ...

", featuring

Tony Mortimer Anthony Michael Mortimer (born 21 October 1970) is a British singer, songwriter and record producer from London. He is a former member of the boy band East 17, who were originally active from 1991 to 1997 and sold over 20 million records worldw ...

. They have been performing live touring Europe ever since. In 2022, he joined the tenth series of dating reality show ''

Celebs Go Dating ''Celebs Go Dating'' is a British dating reality series. It began broadcasting on 29 August 2016 on E4, with the first series having 15 episodes. Paul Carrick Brunson, Anna Williamson and Dr Tara Suwinyattichaiporn appear as the dating agents ...

'', which aired on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

. On 24 February 2025, Abz Love posted on X that he was once again part of Five after leaving in 2014.

Personal life

From 2009 to 2017, Love dated singer Vicky Fallon. In 2013 Love said that he has

Asperger syndrome Asperger syndrome (AS), also known as Asperger's syndrome or Asperger's, is a diagnostic label that has historically been used to describe a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by significant difficulties in social interaction and no ...

Early life

Career

Personal life

Discography

Studio albums

Extended plays

Singles

Other appearances

Filmography

References

External links