| Claire Ann Richards | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Claire Richards |
| Born | 17 August 1977 Hillingdon, London, England |
| Genres | Pop |
| Occupations | Singer |
| Years active | 1997–present |
| Associated acts | Steps |
| Website | Official website |
Claire Ann Richards (born 17 August 1977) is an English singer best known for being the lead singer of Steps from 1997 to 2001. She was a contestant on the second series of Popstar to Operastar before being voted off in the Semi Finals. Richards possesses the vocal range of a soprano.[1]
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Richards began her career in the pop trio TSD with Cossie and Bonnie. They had little success and were dropped by their record label after the release of their second single "Baby I Love You". Richards went on to work as a receptionist for seven months, winning the temporary worker of the month award for May 1997.
Richards auditioned for the lineup that would become Steps. She was offered a place in the group on the condition that she lost weight.[2] Their name was based around a simple marketing gimmick: each of their music videos was choreographed, and the dance steps were included with most of their single releases. Steps formed on 7 May 1997 and disbanded on 26 December 2001. In total Steps have sold more than 15 million records, and achieved 14 consecutive Top 5 singles - a feat only surpassed by Boyzone (with 17), Oasis (with 18) and The Beatles and Westlife (who had 20).
After she and her fellow group mate Ian "H" Watkins resigned during the last leg of their final tour, the two continued singing as the duo H & Claire. The pair experienced success with their debut single "DJ", which reached No. 3 in 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 Cat Deely on SMTV Live in 2002. She took a break from singing to plan her wedding to Steps dancer Mark Webb. H & Claire disbanded in 2003. Richards married Webb on 2 August 2003; the couple split in 2005.
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.
It was announced in May 2011 that Claire would be taking part in Popstar to Opera Star 2011 making it her first major high profile appearance in nearly ten years. The series started on ITV1 on 5 June. Richards appeared on OK! TV on 6 June to promote the show. Despite a much-praised performance of the Queen of the Night aria from Mozart's Magic Flute in the semi-final, she lost out on a place in the final to Cheryl Baker.[3]
In 2000, both Richards and Lee Latchford-Evans were criticised by the Anti Fascist Action organisation for making allegedly xenophobic remarks against asylum seekers.[4] Latchford-Evans said "there should be more jobs for English people". Richards said, "Why are we paying for all these people to come into the country anyway?" All accusations were denied by both Latchford-Evans and Richards.
Richards' first child, Charlie, was born on 8 May 2007. In January 2008, Richards and long-time partner Reece Hill announced their engagement and were married 1 November 2008. Richards announced in the 30 June 2009 edition of Woman magazine that she is expecting her second child with her husband, and gave birth to a baby girl named Daisy on 29 December 2009.
After her Steps career she gained more than 4 stone (25 kg) in weight.[5] Richards went from a size 20 to a 16 and when she planned to slim down to a 12 in time for her winter wedding in November 2008. She exceeded her goal by fitting into a size 10 dress. On 13 September 2008, she performed "Tragedy" on the show Everybody Dance Now without the other members of Steps. Richards appeared on Celebrity MasterChef 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 in May 2009. The programme featured her wedding and a reunion of all Steps members and drew an audience of over 763,000.[6] Richards released a fitness DVD Five Step Fat Attack on 26 December 2008.
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