Five Star

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Five Star
Also known as5 Star
OriginRomford, London, England
Genres
Years active
  • 1983–95
  • 2001–02
  • 2012–16
Labels
MembersDenise Pearson
Past members

Five Star (also styled as 5 Star) were a British

Brit Award
for Best British Group.

Biography

1980s

The five-piece group of siblings from

Hot Dance/Disco
chart.

The group released their debut album,

B-side of "All Fall Down") was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best R&B Instrumental Performance, and a remixed version of "Love Take Over
" gave them another US Hot R&B top 10 hit (reaching No. 9).

Their first new material in 1986, the single "

Silk and Steel, in August 1986.[2] The album reached No. 1 and sold 1.2 million copies in the UK (being certified triple platinum by 1987).[2] The single "Rain or Shine" gave the group their highest ever UK chart position, peaking at No. 2.[2]"If I Say Yes
" (a UK top 20 hit) became their final entry on the US Hot 100.

In 1987, two further singles from Silk and Steel, "

BRIT Award
for Best British Group with Silk and Steel also nominated for Best British Album.

At the height of their success the family bought Stone Court, a large security-gated mansion in Berkshire (featuring a built-in recording studio) from former P.M. Dawn manager Nick Hemmings, in which they all lived and worked.[2] They also owned a fleet of supercars, including Lamborghinis and Ferraris. Their affluent lifestyle was heavily publicised in the press and on television.[2]

New single "Whenever You're Ready" narrowly missed the UK top 10 (peaking at No. 11) but its only placing in the US was No. 39 on the Hot R&B chart. August 1987 saw the release of their third album, Between the Lines, which reached No. 7 in the UK and was another platinum seller, but sales did not match their previous success.[2] The Diane Warren-penned ballad "Strong as Steel" was taken as the next single but it peaked at No. 16 in the UK and failed to chart at all in the US. The next UK single, "Somewhere Somebody" failed to reach the top 20 and no further singles were released from the album.

In 1988, the group attempted to change their clean-cut image to a more adult-oriented "leather-clad" look, matched with a slightly harder-edged dance sound. Led by the Leon Sylvers III-produced single "Another Weekend" in the UK (which reached No. 18), their fourth album Rock the World met with only moderate success, and was their last top 20 album, peaking at No. 17. The album's second UK single, "Rock My World", became their last top 40 hit, and further singles from the album were unsuccessful.[2] In the US, "Someone's in Love" was chosen as the lead single, but that and "Another Weekend" only managed minor placings on the Hot R&B chart.

In April 1989, their new single "With Every Heartbeat" again missed the top 40, peaking at No. 49. Later that year, a Greatest Hits collection was released but peaked at a lowly No. 53 on the UK Albums Chart. Amid reports of bankruptcy, the family had been forced to sell their Berkshire mansion after only two years.[4] The family then moved to Hatfield, Hertfordshire.[4]

While promoting "With Every Heartbeat", the group made an infamous appearance on the British children's TV show

Going Live, when, during a live phone-in, a teenage caller verbally abused them and asked why they were "so fucking crap".[5][6][7][8]

1990s

Now at loggerheads with RCA, Buster Pearson signed the group to

What About Me Baby
" was shelved.

In October 1990, Stedman Pearson pleaded guilty to a charge of

public indecency,[2] after being arrested in a public toilet in New Malden in London.[4][9][10][11] Following this, the band relocated to the United States.[2]

After the 1991 release of their sixth album, Shine (which was not released at all in the UK), Epic Records dropped the group. In 1994, the group released an album independently on their father's own Tent label, Heart and Soul, which was reissued in 1995 in the UK. Again, chart success eluded them and the group informally ended. Denise got married and had children, and Delroy went into music production.

2000s

In 2001, a new Five Star single, "

Butlins in October 2006, in which all five members were billed. However, three impersonators were used to mime to backing tapes.[4]

Denise Pearson said in 2007 that she was working on solo material,[13] resulting in the release of her debut single in 2009.

In March 2007,

Five Star Performance
.

For Five Star's 25th anniversary in 2008, Denise joined Stedman and backing dancers for gigs at Butlins during October and November 2008. Earlier that year, Denise stated in an interview with

Thriller - Live
at the Lyric Theatre from January to December 2009.

2010s

In 2010,

Silk and Steel. By 2013, they had released expanded versions of all six albums originally released on RCA and Epic (both labels now being part of Sony BMG
).

The very first song recorded by Five Star from 1983, "Problematic", was released digitally on 18 July 2011, along with a previously unreleased track called "It", which is an outtake from the Heart and Soul album sessions from 1994.

All five siblings performed at the 2012 Rewind Festivals on 21 July at Scone Palace, Perth, Scotland, and on 18 August in Henley-on-Thames.[14] The band's father and manager, Buster Pearson, died in October 2012.[15]

In 2013, Cherry Pop Records released The Remix Anthology, which included 7" and 12" remixes of the singles released on RCA and Epic between 1984 and 1991 which had not already been included on the "Special Edition" album reissues. This is the first compilation to include the non-charting 1984 singles, the US-only singles from 1987–88 and the Epic singles from 1990–91.

Five Star performed as a four piece after 2012. Delroy, Denise, Doris and Stedman performed every summer at festivals in the UK such as Rewind, Let's Rock and Lytham since Lorraine's departure.

In 2018, Denise announced UK tour dates under the Five Star name, which, for the first time, included four supporting artists who were not her siblings. The new line-up went on to perform at numerous gigs and concerts throughout the summer. Around the same time, Lorraine Pearson conducted a live interview on Loose Women on UK television in which she declared that herself and Denise were no longer friends and she had been offended by the new line-up.[16]

2018 also saw a limited edition deluxe re-issue of all major Five Star projects on one CD box set. Denise helped curate the collection's track list and promoted its release on her social media feed.

Members

  • Denise Pearson – lead vocals, songwriter (1983–1995, 2001–2002, 2012–present)
  • Doris Pearson – vocals, songwriter, choreographer (1983–1995, 2001–2002, 2012–2016)
  • Lorraine Pearson – vocals, spokesperson, and songwriter (1983–1995, 2001–2002, 2012)
  • Stedman Pearson – vocals, costume designer (1983–1995, 2001–2002, 2012–2016)
  • Delroy Pearson – vocals, songwriter, and producer (1983–1995, 2001–2002, 2012–2016)

Discography

Studio albums

References

  1. – via Google Books.
  2. ^ .
  3. ^ "FIVE STAR - full Official Chart History - Official Charts Company". Officialcharts.com.
  4. ^ a b c d e Simpson, Dave (26 June 2008). "Let's go round again". The Guardian. London.
  5. ^ Caroline Westbrook (27 June 2015). "12 Moments of Extreme Awkwardness From 80s TV". Metro Newspaper (website). Associated Newspapers. Retrieved 30 March 2016. It was all going so well for the five-piece band of siblings – who fair dominated the charts in the latter part of the decade – as they appeared on the Saturday morning kids' show to promote new single With Every Heartbeat. Until, that is, the now infamous moment when one Eliot Fletcher called in to ask the band 'why they're so f*****g crap!' Cue shocked expressions all round, and presenter Sarah Greene not knowing quite what to say.
  6. . Retrieved 24 March 2016.
  7. ^ Bromley, Tom (26 August 2010). "Top ten television moments of the Eighties" – via www.telegraph.co.uk.
  8. ^ Hardie, Beth (17 June 2008). "Video: Swearing celebs - Mirror.co.uk's Top 10 on air cock ups". Daily Mirror.
  9. ^ "Virgin TV Edit - TV, Sport, Movies & More". Virgin Media.
  10. .
  11. ^ "Funktafied" at Billboard.com
  12. ^ "Deniece - Listen and Stream Free Music, Albums, New Releases, Photos, Videos". Myspace.
  13. ^ "A Five Star Return (Breakfast, BBC Television, 12 July 2012)" (webpage, video). BBC. 16 July 2012. Retrieved 30 March 2016.
  14. ^ "Five Star Official Site (Bio)". Archived from the original on 20 December 2008.
  15. ^ "Five Star singer Lorraine Pearson nearly married actor Eddie Murphy: 'We got engaged after five days!'". itv.com. 4 June 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2021.