Biography
Lee Ryan, previously a member of the boy band Blue with Duncan James, Antony Costa, and Simon Webbe, helped secure eight consecutive Top Ten singles and three number-one studio albums during the first half of the 2000s. Born June 17, 1983, in Chatham, Kent, he relocated for most of his childhood to the Kent town of Erith once his parents separated at age five. Training at the Sylvia Young, Bright Lights Academy, and Italia Conti performing arts schools prepared him to join Blue, where he served as lead singer and wrote many of the group’s successful tracks. Although the members typically followed record company guidance, Ryan provoked controversy through an outspoken comment on media coverage of the September 11th terrorist attacks in the U.S., which led Virgin Records, parent of their Innocent label, to scrap plans for an American marketing push over fears of backlash. A duet with Elton John on “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word” appeared on the second album, One Love, after which observers noted waning popularity, confirmed when the third album, Guilty, charted for only four weeks in the Top Ten following its late November release and reached number one solely during Christmas week. Their collaboration with Stevie Wonder on “Signed Sealed Delivered I’m Yours,” also on Guilty, became the first single to miss the Top Ten, prompting the band to split so each member could launch a solo career. Ryan had already placed the track “Stand Up as People” on the War Child album and became the first to go solo, issuing “Army of Lovers” in summer 2005 before releasing his self-titled album. Both the single and album reached their respective Top Tens yet drew mixed reviews and posted sales far below Blue’s peak, after which Sony BMG dropped him. Outside music, Dolce & Gabbana named him the U.K. face of a new clothing range, and he appeared on series three of Hell’s Kitchen.
Singles
