Carol Ann Decker (born 10 September 1957) is an English singer. She is the lead vocalist of the pop band T'Pau, which had international success in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Although Decker is mainly associated with the group, she also released "One Heart", a solo single, in 1995, and sometimes performs solo at shows and festivals. Decker's personal record label is GnatFish.

Life and career

Carol Ann Decker was born on 10 September 1957 in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated ''Lancs'') is a ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Cumbria to the north, North Yorkshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Greater Manchester and Merseyside to the south, and the Irish Sea to ...

(now

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

) and attended Wellington Girls' High School,

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

Shropshire Shropshire (; abbreviated SalopAlso used officially as the name of the county from 1974–1980. The demonym for inhabitants of the county "Salopian" derives from this name.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the West M ...

. In addition to her musical achievements, Decker has also acted on both stage and screen, including the role of Steven Berkoff's wife in the 2002 film '' 9 Dead Gay Guys''. Her television appearances include '' Hit Me, Baby, One More Time'' (in which she reached the final round, ultimately being beaten by Shakin' Stevens). Decker also appeared in the British comedy series '' Trigger Happy TV'', in which she appeared in a "bull in a china shop" sketch (the joke being that she had previously had a hit with the song " China in Your Hand"), and in another sketch where she accompanied Dom Joly as he pretended to be a door-to-door salesman. In 2003 she appeared in the play ''Mum's The Word'' (written by Linda A Carson, Jill Daum, Alison Kelly, Robin Nichol, Barbara Pollard and Deborah Williams) at the

Albery Theatre Albery is a name. It may refer to: Given name * Albery Allson Whitman (1851−1901), African American poet, minister and orator Surname * A. S. Albery, British politician * Bronson Albery (1881−1971), English theatre director and impresario * Do ...

in London. Decker took part in the prime time

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

show '' Just the Two of Us'', which began on 2 January 2007. However, despite singing duets with

Beverley Knight Beverley Knight (born Beverley Anne Smith, 22 March 1973) is an English singer, songwriter, actress and radio personality. She released her first album, ''The B-Funk'', in 1995. Heavily influenced by American soul music icons such as Sam Cooke ...

, Tony Christie and Natasha Hamilton, she and her singing partner Gregg Wallace were the first to be eliminated from the show after singing

The Jacksons The Jackson 5, later known as the Jacksons, are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was formed in Gary, Indiana in 1964, and originally consisted of brothers Jackie, Ti ...

' " Blame It on the Boogie". Decker appeared in the video for Peter Kay and Matt Lucas's charity single " I'm Gonna Be (500 Miles)" for

Comic Relief Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1986 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make t ...

's Red Nose Day 2007. She released the single " Just Dream" in download-only format in September 2007. In 2018, she made a guest appearance in an episode of the British comedy TV series '' Benidorm'', as herself. In 2022, Decker released an autobiography titled ''Heart And Soul''. In 2025, Decker participated in the sixth series of ''The Masked Singer'' as "Tattoo", and was eliminated in the fourth episode.

Personal life

T'Pau member Ronnie Rogers was her boyfriend at the time, and they co-wrote the majority of the band's songs. Decker began a relationship with restaurateur Richard Coates in 1996. They have two children, and were married in 2006. That same year, Decker became a joint tenant of the Cherry Tree Inn at Stoke Row near Henley, which Coates had established. Although it closed in 2012, it has since reopened under new ownership. The couple live in Henley-on-Thames.

References

External links

T'Pau official website

Gnatfish Records
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Decker, Carol 1957 births Living people English women pop singers English rock singers English television actresses British women new wave singers Musicians from Merseyside People from Huyton People from Wellington, Shropshire