S Club 7 have announced their new name in the wake of the death of one of the band’s members, Paul Cattermole.
Cattermole died aged forty-six last month. The news came just 2 months after the news that the band were set to reunite for a tour around the UK.
The band also revealed that another one of their members won’t be joining them on the tour, meaning there will be just 5 of the band’s original cast on tour.
S Club 7 originally consisted of seven members: Bradley McIntosh, Hannah Spearritt, Jo O’Meara, Jon Lee, Paul Cattermole, Rachel Stevens, and Tina Barrett. They were formed in 1998 by former Spice Girls mastermind, Simon Fuller.
The band first rose to fame with their BBC series, Miami 7, but it was their music which truly took over the world. In just five years together, S Club 7 gave us classics such as ‘Reach’, ‘Bring It All Back, ‘Don’t Stop Movin’, ‘S Club Party’, and ‘Never Had a Dream Come True’.
They also released a whopping 4 studio albums, released eleven singles, and sold ten million albums, so it’s safe to say that they had a pretty solid fanbase. And even in the years they’ve been away, the S Club fandom has remained strong, always hoping for that elusive reunion tour…
After a whole 2 decades after the band initially split, it seemed as though fans were in luck.
The band split back in 2003, following Paul leaving because of his “creative differences.” He went on to front a nu-metal band, which is a bit too weird for us to think about. But sans Paul, the band continued to argue and eventually announced their split during a live performance – awkward.
Since the split, there have been rumblings of a reunion – including S Club 3, which consisted of Jo, Bradley, and Paul. S Club 3 did a pretty small tour of mostly student unions around the country, but it was a far cry from the full 7 person line up fans couldn’t wait to see on this tour.
The band appeared on BBC’s The One Show when they first announced the reunion tour back in February.
Rachel said: “We are so excited to get back out there and sing our hearts out.”
Bradley responded when questioned whether new music may be released: “If you know you know. We’re bringing the nostalgia, in today’s time we need a bit of positive.”
Jon said: “I don’t think we have changed that much. We all said yes immediately and we set up a WhatsApp group called S Clubbers.”
However, after the heartbreaking news of the death of original band member Paul Cattermole, the band have announced that their plans for the tour are now a little different.
Rather than playing as S Club 7, the band have confirmed in an emotional video on Instagram that they plan to tour under the name S Club instead.
Furthermore, they have announced that Hannah Spearritt, who dated Cattermole from 2001 to 2006 and again in 2015, is no longer going to join them on tour. However, Jon Lee confirmed that she remains a member of the band.
“She won’t be joining us on this tour but we wish her all the best for the future. However, the five of us are really excited and geared up to crack on,” he said.
The group all shared their shock at their co-star’s death.
Tina Barrett shared: “It’s just really sad and really, really hard to process it right now.”
Rachel Stevens said: “He’s always going to be with us. He was such a big part of this tour, so involved in everything that we are planning.”
“And we are just going to keep his memory alive and share it with all of you and its going to make it even more special.”
Bradley McIntosh added that he felt Cattermole was a ‘big brother’ to him, with Jo O’Meara adding that he was “just a really special person”.
Rest in peace, Paul Cattermole.
