Five Star singer Stedman Pearson dies at 60: Brit-winning band loved large Eighties chart success
Five Star singer Stedman Pearson has tragically passed away aged 60, MailOnline can reveal.
The Eighties star enjoyed huge success with his band including notching six Top 10 singles, including hit Rain or Shine which reached No2 in the charts.
The British RnB act were formed in Romford, Essex, in 1983 and their biggest honour was winning a Brit Award in 1987 for Best Group.
The band were formed of siblings – Stedman, his brother Delroy, and sisters Lorraine, Denise and Doris, and they were known for their glamorous image, matching costumes and dance routines.
The five became three in 2001, with Stedman continuing to perform with his sisters Denis and Lorraine.
Tributes have been pouring in for the late Brit Pop star following the news of his death this morning, with friends and fans praising his ‘sweet and gentle’ character and ‘zest for life’.
Five Star singer Stedman Pearson (pictured in 2012) has tragically passed away aged 60
Stedman Pearson pictured with his siblings and fellow Five Star bandmates Lorraine Pearson, Denise Pearson, Doris Pearson and Delroy Pearson
Five Star (pictured in 1986) were known for their glamorous image, matching costumes and dance routines
One person on X wrote: ‘I got to know him well over 14 years, before being entrusted with his unpublished biography which was completed recently.’
Another added: ‘Woke up to learn of my friends passing….HE was one of the gentlest and lovely people I knew.. an awesome dancer with just a childlike zest for life….you made a huge difference to my life and will be missed muchly !!!’
A third friend wrote: ‘Sad to hear that lovely Stedman Pearson has passed away. I knew Steeman in the noughties when he would often come down to Heaven where I dj’d.
‘He was such a sweet gentle person and always used to smell divine. I commented on this once to him and the very next week he came to see me with a huge and very expensive bottle of cologne as a gift. He was lovely.
‘Sleep well Stedman and once again – thank you for my cologne. I still have the bottle!’
Another said: ‘R.I.P Stedman Pearson aka Five Star , my beautiful Friend I’ll always remember the laughter we shared and the Dream you made reality.
‘Gone too soon but never forgotten you live on forever in my heart & the 5 star/Stedman legacy you’ve left for us all to enjoy forever Thank you with all my heart. Love u more !!!’
Stedman pictured with his sister Denise during a party in London in September 2011
Stedman Pearson pictured with Arsenal legend Ian Wright at the Big Narstie Show
Five Star band members, the Pearson siblings take part in a photoshoot in May 1986
Stedman Pearson, Lorraine Pearson, Denise Pearson, Doris Pearson, and Delroy Pearson at the Smile Jamaica concert in aid of the Hurricane Gilbert disaster in 1988
Stedman, Lorraine, Denise, Doris and Delroy perform on stage for G-A-Y at the London nightclub Heaven in September, 2012
Five Star pictured at the Montreux Music Festival in Switzerland in May 1986
Five Star (pictured in 1986) were initially dubbed ‘the UK’s answer to the Jacksons’ due to their family set-up
Five Star were initially dubbed ‘the UK’s answer to the Jacksons’ due to their family set-up and the fact their former record of artist father Buster was pulling the strings, when they burst onto the music scene as teenagers.
Buster was a former session musician who had played with Otis Redding, Jimmy Cliff and Wilson Pickett and was so dedicated to music, he turned down an opportunity by Disney to film a TV show about Five Star to concentrate on their second album.
Denise was the lead singer and also wrote most of the songs, including Stay Out Of My Life, Five Star’s only self-composed top ten single.
Eldest sister Doris served as the band’s choreographer, while Stedman – the group’s most senior member – served as costume designer.
Indeed, so outrageous were his ideas, legend has it that their shoulder pads grew so big, Five Star had to walk sideways down corridors.
They released their debut single in 1983, although their chart breakthrough did not come until 1985 with the release of All Fall Down, which rose to number 15 on the UK Singles Chart.
Between 1985 and 1988, the group released four top-20 albums and 15 top-40 singles. Their second album Silk & Steel reached number one and sold more than 1.2 million copies in the UK alone.
While the group never achieved a number one single, they did receive a Brit Award for Best Group in 1987 – becoming the first black group to ever do so. Their fifth studio album, simply titled Five Star, failed to chart following its release in 1990.
Stedman Pearson pictured with actor Idris Elba at the National Film Awards
The Pearson siblings pose for a promotional photo in 1986
Stedman, Lorraine, Denise, Doris and Delroy pictured at the Montreux Music Festival in Switzerland in May 1986
The siblings are pictured following a performance at Heaven nightclub in London in 2012
Five Star released their debut single in 1983, although their chart breakthrough did not come until 1985
In 1989, the band were famously pranked on Saturday morning kids show Going Live when a young boy named Elliot Fletcher calling into a phone-in segment swore at them, saying: ‘Why are Five Star so c**p?’
After enjoying early success, the family moved from Romford to a mansion in Sunningdale, Essex, where they installed a £2.5m recording studio, a fleet of expensive cars and a fan club operating out of the gatekeeper’s cottage.
However, they were later forced to move from the lavish property after being made bankrupt. But the band insisted it was their recording studio business that had gone under.
After an underperforming greatest hits album, the band left RCA for Epic Records, and Doris took over as lead singer.
But even the rejigged line-up didn’t help. Despite two decent singles, the funky drummer-sampling Treat and Like A Lady and the flirtatious Hot Love (both written by Doris), the group’s fifth album failed to chart.
And in 1991, Five Star hit an all-time low when Stedman was fined for public indecency in 1991. Afterwards, the group relocated to the US and released more music but they failed to reach the heights of their mid-Eighties pomp.
Five Star’s sixth album was released later that year – but not in the UK – shortly after which they were dropped by their record label Epic Records.
Since the band’s split, Stedman has had a number of jobs including running a limousine hire service and as a dance teacher.
In 2006 he finished in third place on Channel 5’s All Star Talent Show and in 2008 he was a contestant on BBC’s Celebrity Scissorhands.
