Claire Richards (born 17 August 1977) is an English singer and member of the pop group Steps. As a solo artist, Richards has released two studio albums: her debut, ''

My Wildest Dreams My Wildest Dreams may refer to: * My Wildest Dreams (TV series), an American sitcom * My Wildest Dreams (album) ''My Wildest Dreams'' is the debut studio album by English singer-songwriter Claire Richards, released on 1 February 2019, through So ...

'', was released in 2019 and ''

Euphoria Euphoria ( ) is the experience (or affect) of pleasure or excitement and intense feelings of well-being and happiness. Certain natural rewards and social activities, such as aerobic exercise, laughter, listening to or making music and da ...

'', a covers album, was released in 2023. Richards was a contestant on the second series of ''

Popstar to Operastar ''Popstar to Operastar'' is a British television programme in which pop stars were trained to sing opera. The show began airing on ITV on 15 January 2010 at 9pm. The show was repeated on TV3 Ireland on Saturday evening. The programme was produc ...

'' before being voted off in the semi-finals. She possesses the vocal range of a

soprano A soprano () is a type of classical singing voice and has the highest vocal range of all voice types. The soprano's vocal range (using scientific pitch notation) is from approximately middle C (C4) = 261 Hertz, Hz to A5 in Choir, choral ...

. On 3 January 2013, Richards entered ''

Celebrity Big Brother ''Celebrity Big Brother'' or ''Big Brother VIP'' is an adaptation of the '' Big Brother'' reality television series. It is the celebrity version of its parent franchise ''Big Brother'', the celebrity version airs in several countries, however, t ...

'' and came in fourth place. From April to June 2014, she was a regular panellist on ''

Loose Women ''Loose Women'' (known as ''Live Talk'' from 2000 to 2001) is a British talk show that broadcasts on ITV weekdays from 12:30 pm to 1:30 pm. The show focuses on a panel of four female presenters who interview celebrities, talk about aspects of ...

''. Richards took part in the fourth series of ''

The Masked Singer UK ''The Masked Singer'' is a British reality singing competition television series that premiered on ITV on 4 January 2020. It is based on the ''Masked Singer'' franchise that originated from the South Korean show ''King of Mask Singer'', whi ...

'' and was unmasked as “Knitting”.

Early life

Richards began her career in the pop trio TSD. They had little success and were dropped by their

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

Avex Avex Inc. ( kabushiki gaisha , commonly known as Avex and stylized as avex) is a Japanese entertainment conglomerate led by founder Max Matsuura and headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1988, the company manages J-pop talents like Ayumi ...

after the release of their second single "

Baby I Love You "Baby, I Love You" is a song originally recorded by the Ronettes in 1963 and released on their debut album '' Presenting the Fabulous Ronettes'' (1964). The song was written by Jeff Barry, Ellie Greenwich, and Phil Spector, and produced by Spec ...

". She went on to work as a

receptionist A receptionist is an Employment, employee taking an office or Business administration, administrative support position. The work is usually performed in a waiting room, waiting area such as a Lobby (room), lobby or front office desk of an organ ...

for seven months, winning the temporary worker of the month award for May 1997.

Career

1997–2001: Early career with Steps

Richards auditioned for the lineup that would become Steps. She was offered a place in the group on the condition that she lost weight. Steps were formed by

Steve Crosby Steven Kent Crosby (born July 3, 1950) is an American former professional football coach and player. He spent 33 years in the National Football League (NFL)—3 as a player, 4 as a scout and 26 as a coach. Crosby was named the NFL Special Teams ...

and

Barry Upton Barry John Upton (born 25 February 1954) is an English singer, songwriter, arranger, musician and producer of pop, rock and electronic dance. He lives in Pattaya, Thailand, where he is the executive producer for radio & TV at Pattaya People ...

(writers of "

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

") alongside manager Tim Byrne after auditioning hopefuls who answered an ad in ''

The Stage ''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. Founded in 1880, ''The Stage'' contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at thos ...

'' newspaper. She joined the group in 1997 along with

Ian "H" Watkins Ian Watkins (born 8 May 1976), known by his stage name H, is a Welsh singer and actor. He is a member of the British pop group Steps. In 2020 he competed in the twelfth series of the British television series ''Dancing on Ice''. Career St ...

Lisa Scott-Lee Lisa Scott-Lee (born 5 November 1975) is a British singer from St Asaph, Wales. She is a member of the pop group Steps, formed in 1997. Scott-Lee signed a record deal with Mercury Records and launched a solo career in 2003, achieving only min ...

Faye Tozer Faye Louise Tozer Smith (born 14 November 1975) is an English singer and actress, best known as a member of the pop group Steps. Career Music Steps are a pop group that have had a series of charted singles between 1997 and 2020. Their name ...

and

Lee Latchford-Evans 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 (pop group), Steps. Early life From Ellesmere Port, Evans was born as Lee Latchford Evans, with hi ...

, and the band enjoyed considerable popularity across the world over the next five years.

2002–2011: H & Claire and presenting

After Richards and her groupmate Ian "H" Watkins resigned during the last leg of Steps' 2001 Gold Tour, the two continued singing as the duo H & Claire. The pair experienced success with their debut single " DJ", which reached No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart, and their next two singles, which both charted in the top 10. While the duo had initial success, their album ''Another You, Another Me'', which was released in 2002, did not chart high. Richards also co hosted alongside Brian Dowling and

Tess Daly Helen Elizabeth "Tess" Daly (born 29 March 1969) is an English television presenter and former model. Since 2004, she has co-presented the BBC One dancing competition show '' Strictly Come Dancing''. Early life Helen Elizabeth Daly was born o ...

on ''

SMTV Live ''SMTV Live'' (an abbreviation of ''Saturday Morning Television Live'', and also stylised as ''SM: LIVE'') was a British Saturday morning children's television programme, produced by Blaze Television for ITV. Operating on a similar format to ...

'' in 2002. She took a break from singing to plan her wedding to Steps dancer Mark Webb. H & Claire disbanded in 2003. After leaving her music career, Richards wanted to take a break from music and concentrate on other projects; she was set to release a debut solo album but due to falling pregnant Richards decided to not pursue music any further. In 2013, she announced on Twitter that there was a possibility of her producing a solo album to the success of Steps. It was announced in May 2011 that Richards would be taking part in the second series of ''

'' making it her first major high-profile appearance in nearly ten years. The series started on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: Television TV stations/networks/channels ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network and company, including: **ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network in the United Kingd ...

on 5 June. She appeared on

OK! TV ''OK! TV'' is an early evening magazine programme which was broadcast on Channel 5 between 14 February 2011 and 16 December 2011. It was a brand extension of celebrity title ''OK! Magazine''. It replaced the former magazine and discussion sh ...

on 6 June to promote the show. Despite a much-praised performance of the Queen of the Night aria from

Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (27 January 1756 – 5 December 1791) was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical period (music), Classical period. Despite his short life, his rapid pace of composition and proficiency from an early age ...

's ''

The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (, ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. It is a ''Singspiel'', a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on ...

'' in the semi-final, she lost out on a place in the final to

Cheryl Baker Rita Maria Stroud (''née'' Crudgington; born 8 March 1954), known professionally as Cheryl Baker, is an English singer and television presenter. She was a member of pop group Bucks Fizz, which won the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest and, followi ...

. Richards was a contestant on eleventh series of ''

'' and came fourth place as the show ended on 25 January 2013. On 1 and 7 April 2014, she was a guest panellist on the

lunchtime chat show ''

''. Following this she became a permanent panellist, making her debut on 10 April 2014. She subsequently made a further seven appearances, with her last being on 23 June 2014. On 8 August 2017, she made a cameo appearance as herself on the

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. Its headquarters are in Glasgow, employing approximately 1,250 staff as of 2017, to produce 15,000 hours of television and radio programming per year. BBC Scotla ...

soap opera ''

River City ''River City'' is a Scottish television soap opera created by Stephen Greenhorn which has been broadcast on BBC One Scotland since September 2002. Since 2019, the show has aired episodes a day earlier on the new BBC Scotland channel. Set in ...

''. Richards released her first solo material, a cover of the Steps track " One for Sorrow", on 30 July 2015 via her official

SoundCloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...

. The acoustic version of the track was recorded for an event honouring Steps' producer

Pete Waterman Peter Alan Waterman (born 15 January 1947) is an English record producer, songwriter, and television personality. As a member of the Stock Aitken Waterman production and songwriting team, he co-wrote and co-produced many UK hit singles. An av ...

. The track was arranged and produced by Steve Anderson with whom Richards was now working on a full album. In September 2015, after much fan demand, Richards released a stripped-back version of "

Deeper Shade of Blue "Deeper Shade of Blue" is a song by British dance-pop group Steps, released as the fourth single from their second studio album, ''Steptacular'' (1999), on 3 April 2000. The song was originally recorded by English singer-songwriter Tina Cousins ...

". The track, which was recorded in one take was released on

Amazon Music Amazon Music (previously Amazon MP3) is a music streaming platform and digital music store operated by Amazon. As of January 2020, the service had 55 million subscribers. It was the first music store to sell music without digital rights manag ...

iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...

and streaming services on 4 September 2015.

2011–2017: Reformation of Steps

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

Sky Living Sky Living was a British pay television television channel, channel owned and operated by Sky Limited, Sky. The channel's programming was aimed mainly at women and young adults. It originally launched as UK Living yet became Sky Living by 2011. H ...

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

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 ...

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 Sky Living in April 2012; the series followed the band as they embarked on their sellout 30-date The Ultimate Tour in the UK and

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. 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 Sophie Michelle Ellis-Bextor (born 10 April 1979) is an English singer and songwriter. She first came to prominence in the late 1990s as the lead vocalist of the indie rock band Theaudience. After the group disbanded, Ellis-Bextor went solo and ...

) 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 contributed to five songs that pe ...

-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 An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as co ...

" was released as the album's third single in January 2021. The first single of '' What the Future Holds Pt. 2'' was confirmed as a reworked version of "

Heartbreak in This City A broken heart (also known as heartbreak or heartache) is a metaphor for the intense emotional stress or pain one feels at experiencing great loss or deep longing. The concept is cross-cultural, often cited with reference to unreciprocated o ...

" featuring

Michelle Visage Michelle Visage (born Michelle Lynn Shupack, September 20, 1968) is an American television personality, singer, broadcaster, producer, and actress. She gained recognition as a member of the dance-pop group Seduction (group), Seduction, who char ...

2018–present: ''My Wildest Dreams'' and ''Euphoria ''

It was announced on 3 August 2018 that Richards was to release her debut solo album, ''

'' on 2 November 2018. It was preceded by the lead single, "On My Own", which was released on 6 August. It was announced on 8 October 2018, via her official

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

, that the album had been delayed until 1 February 2019. The album reached No. 9 in the UK Albums Chart and was promoted with a small theatre tour across venues in the UK. In February 2023, Richards participated as "Knitting" on the fourth series of ''The Masked Singer''. In June 2023, H & Claire came together for a special appearance at

Pride Cymru Pride Cymru (previously Cardiff Mardi Gras) is an LGBT pride festival held annually in Cardiff, Wales. Pride Cymru's Big Weekend is the biggest celebration of equality and diversity in Wales. Over 3 days, Pride Cymru hosts over 50,000 people in ...

2023, delighting fans with their one-off performance. On 28 June 2023, Richards announced that her second solo studio album, ''

'', would be released in August 2023. On the same day, Richards released the album's lead single "I Surrender", a cover of the 2002

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Power Ballads", Dion's powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works have had ...

track from her album ''

A New Day Has Come ''A New Day Has Come'' is the eighteenth studio album and seventh English-language album by Canadian singer Celine Dion, released by Sony Music on 25 March 2002. It was her first new studio album since her 1998 Christmas album '' These Are Spec ...

''. On 26 July 2023, Richards released a cover of the 1978

ABBA ABBA ( ) were a Swedish pop group formed in Stockholm in 1972 by Agnetha Fältskog, Björn Ulvaeus, Benny Andersson, and Anni-Frid Lyngstad. They are one of the most popular and successful musical groups of all time, and are one of the List ...

single "

Summer Night City "Summer Night City" is a song recorded by the Swedish pop group ABBA, written by Benny Andersson and Björn Ulvaeus as a tribute to their hometown of Stockholm. It is the group's second non-album single, released on 6 September 1978. It was reco ...

", with

Erasure Erasure may refer to: Arts and media * Erasure (duo), an English pop group * ''Erasure'' (album), 1995, by the British group Erasure * Erasure poetry, a form of found poetry created by erasing words from an existing text * ''Erasure'' (novel), ...

lead singer Andy Bell, as the second single from ''Euphoria''. The album peaked at number 2 on the UK Albums and UK Physical Albums charts, respectively, and at number 1 on the UK Albums Downloads, Sales and Vinyl charts.

Personal life

Richards married her first husband Mark Webb, a backing dancer with Steps, in 2003. The couple divorced in 2005. Richards' first child, Charlie, was born on 8 May 2007. In January 2008, Richards announced her engagement to Reece Hill and they were married on 1 November 2008. Richards gave birth to a girl named Daisy on 29 December 2009. On 13 September 2008, Richards performed "Tragedy" on the show ''Everybody Dance Now'' without the other members of Steps. Richards appeared on ''

Celebrity MasterChef ''MasterChef'' is a British competitive cooking reality show produced by Endemol Shine UK and Banijay and broadcast in 60 countries around the world. The show initially ran from 1990 to 2001 and was revived in 2005 as ''MasterChef Goes Large' ...

'' on 25 June 2009 as part of the programme's "comeback" week. ''Claire Richards: My Big Fat Wedding'', a programme following Claire on her journey to lose weight before her wedding, was shown on

BBC Three BBC Three is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was first launched on 9 February 2003 with programmes for a 16 to 34-year-old target aud ...

in May 2009. The programme featured her wedding and a reunion of all Steps members and drew an audience of over 763,000. Richards released a fitness DVD ''Five Step Fat Attack'' on 26 December 2008.

Discography

Studio albums

Singles

Music videos

References

External links

Official websiteClaireRichards.Net – original fansiteGeneration STEPS
{{DEFAULTSORT:Richards, Claire 1977 births English women pop singers English sopranos Living people People from Hillingdon Steps (group) members People from Uxbridge