Singer who scored four UK No. 1 songs with pop quartet recently announced a band reunion.
Paul Cattermole, the singer who rose to fame with the musical group S Club 7, has died at the age of 46.
According to his relatives, he was discovered deceased at his home in Dorset on Thursday and pronounced dead later that day. There was no mention of a cause of death, although authorities confirmed there were no suspicious circumstances.
The band paid homage by writing:
We are grieved by the death of our brother Paul. There are no words to express our collective grief and loss. We were so fortunate to have had him in our life and are grateful for the wonderful memories we have. Each and every one of us will miss him terribly. We ask that you respect his family’s and the band’s privacy at this time.
The Hertfordshire-born vocalist was supposed to be a part of the group’s newly announced reunion, which had four UK No. 1 singles, including Don’t Stop Movin’ and Bring It All Back. On Wednesday, he was photographed walking outside in excellent spirits, according to the Daily Mail.
In 1998, Cattermole auditioned for S Club 7, a septet created by svengali Simon Fuller. In 1999, they courted a youthful audience with the children’s television show Miami 7. Bring It All Back, their debut single, followed, with its buoyant, upbeat tone typical of the band’s hits, kicking off a remarkable run of success: all 11 of their singles reached the UK Top 5.
Their song Never Had a Dream Come True charted at No. 10 in the United States in 2000. Cattermole’s musical interests clashed with S Club 7’s cheerful pop, and he left the band in 2002 to establish the unsuccessful metal band Skua. The following year, S Club 7 disbanded.
Cattermole reformed S Club 3 with bandmates Jo O’Meara and Bradley McIntosh in 2008, but did not release new songs and instead performed live across the UK. The entire band rejoined in 2015 for an arena tour, which Cattermole later described as “difficult: not everyone in the band sees eye to eye,” and then again in February of this year, announcing a tour that would begin in October.
“It feels incredible to announce that we’ll be rejoining and playing together again,” the band announced. “Music and friendship have always been central to all we’ve done.”
Cattermole was candid about the challenges he encountered following the popularity of S Club 7. Prior to the 2015 reunion, he had been declared bankrupt, and the proceeds from the tour were used to pay off his debts: “I paid £36,000 to HMRC, but the lawyers’ fees were around 40-something,” he revealed in 2018.
“I didn’t let anyone down by failing to pay my fair part.” We’d be playing in front of 20,000 people in arenas just days after I’d called and said, ‘We need £10,000 right now!’ Then I’d have to do Reach for the Stars.”
During the 2015 tour, he was injured in a touring production of The Rocky Horror Show, prompting him to auction off a Brit trophy that S Club 7 had won in 2000 for best British newcomer. It sold on eBay for £66,100, with Cattermole commenting, “The quantity of responses has really overwhelmed me… “I’ve had a great time with the procedure.”
In recent years, he had held a variety of positions in Dorset, including that of community radio manager. He also gave tarot card readings and advertised himself as a “psychic, clairvoyant, and spirit coach.”
Cattermole was in a relationship with Hannah Spearritt of S Club 7 from 2001 to 2006, when a romance between the two was incorporated into the TV show Hollywood 7. “It didn’t feel [forced] because I had immediately grown into the concept.” In 2019, he told the Guardian, “I thought she was fantastic.”
TV host Lorraine Kelly was among many who paid tribute, writing, “This is really terrible. He was a lovely man who was looking forward to the S Club 7 reunion. I interviewed all of them several times and was struck by how polite and shy he was.”
