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Artist News Obituaries
S Club’s Paul Cattermole dies
By Chris Cooke | Published on Tuesday 11 April 2023
Blue and Steps were among the pop acts paying tribute this weekend to S Club member Paul Cattermole, who died last week aged 46.
The other members of S Club confirmed in a post on Friday that Cattermole had died, stating: “We are truly devastated by the passing of our brother Paul”.
“There are no words to describe the deep sadness and loss we all feel”, they added. “We were so lucky to have had him in our lives and are thankful for the amazing memories we have”.
“He will be so deeply missed by each and every one of us”, they went on. “We ask that you respect the privacy of his family and of the band at this time”.
With an interest in both music and acting, Cattermole joined the National Youth Music Theatre and trained at the Mountview Theatre School in London before auditioning to become a member of S Club 7 in 1998.
The brainchild of Simon Fuller, who conceived the venture shortly after being sacked as manager of the Spice Girls, S Club rose to fame via a BBC TV series, with Universal Music’s Polydor handling the release of the chart-topping pop records that also featured in the show.
Despite the success of the franchise, Cattermole quit in 2002, citing “creative differences”. Of all the group’s members, he seemed most frustrated with the control Fuller and his team had over their output.
He also later criticised the commercial set-up of S Club, which seemed to make Fuller and Polydor a lot more money than the group’s members.
The rest of S Club continued after Cattermole’s departure, dropping the ‘7’ from their name, but only for a relatively short time, confirming they were splitting up in April 2003.
Cattermole did subsequently reunite with his former bandmates though, initially as part of S Club 3 in 2008, and for a full reunion during the BBC’s Children In Need fundraiser in 2014 and for an arena tour in 2015. Another reunion tour was also planned for later this year.
Both Blue and Steps, who enjoyed their initial pop success at the same time as S Club, paid tribute to Cattermole this weekend.
A short statement on Blue’s Instagram said: “Rest in peace Paul Cattermole. It was a pleasure knowing you and sharing this journey with you! You will never be forgotten, Antony, Duncan, Simon and Lee”.
Meanwhile Lisa Scott-Lee from Steps said on social media: “I’m heartbroken to hear of the passing of Paul. My love goes out to all his bandmates and his family, friends and followers”.
