Antony Daniel Costa (born 23 June 1981) is an English singer and songwriter. He is best known as a member of the

boy band A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform Love song, love songs marketed towards girls and young ...

Blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when obs ...

Early life

Costa was born in

Edgware Edgware () is a suburban town in northern Greater London, mostly in the London Borough of Barnet but with small parts falling in the London Borough of Harrow and in the London Borough of Brent. Edgware is centred north-northwest of Charing Cros ...

North London North London is the northern part of London, England, north of the River Thames. It extends from Clerkenwell and Finsbury, on the edge of the City of London financial district, to Greater London's boundary with Hertfordshire. The term ''nort ...

, Costa attended

Hendon School Hendon School is a mixed secondary school in Golders Rise, Hendon, with academy status since November 2011 (previously a comprehensive) in the London Borough of Barnet. It specialises in languages, offering lessons amongst others to its student ...

in nearby Barnet. He is half-Greek, half-Jewish. He attended the American Academy school in

Larnaca Larnaca ( el, Λάρνακα ; tr, Larnaka) is a city on the south east coast of Cyprus and the capital of the district of the same name. It is the third-largest city in the country, after Nicosia and Limassol, with a metro population of 144 ...

before moving back to England. He has a sister Natalie and a brother Louis who appeared on

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

on 3 September 2011 and who was also in a group called The Chase with former

S Club 8 S Club 8 (originally S Club Juniors) were a spin off of the British pop music, pop group S Club 7. The group's members, Jay Asforis, Daisy Evans, Calvin Goldspink, Stacey Franks, Stacey McClean, Aaron Renfree, Hannah Richings, Frankie Bridge, ...

member

Jay Asforis S Club 8 (originally S Club Juniors) were a spin off of the British pop group S Club 7. The group's members, Jay Asforis, Daisy Evans, Calvin Goldspink, Stacey McClean, Aaron Renfree, Hannah Richings, Frankie Sandford and Rochelle Wiseman wer ...

Career

One of Costa's earliest television roles was as a pupil in

Steven Moffat Steven William Moffat (; born 18 November 1961) is a Scottish television writer, television producer and screenwriter. He is best known for his work as showrunner, writer and executive producer of the science fiction television series ''Doct ...

's sitcom ''

Chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Chalk ...

''. He then went on to appear in the BBC children's drama ''

Grange Hill ''Grange Hill'' is a British Children's television series, children's television drama series, originally produced by the BBC and portraying life in a typical Comprehensive school (England and Wales), comprehensive school. The show began its ru ...

''.

2000–2005: Career with Blue

In early 2000, Costa and

Duncan James Duncan James (born Duncan Inglis, 7 April 1978) is an English singer and actor. He became widely known in 2001 as a member of the boy band Blue (English group), Blue and later for playing Ryan Knight (Hollyoaks), Ryan Knight in the British soap ...

convinced

Lee Ryan Lee Ryan (born 17 June 1983) is an English singer, songwriter and actor, best known as a member of the boy band Blue. Ryan took part in the BBC series '' Strictly Come Dancing''. He was partnered with professional dancer Nadiya Bychkova and was ...

and

Simon Webbe Simon Solomon Webbe (born 30 March 1979) is a British singer. He is best known as a member of the boy band Blue, forming in 2000 before splitting in 2005 and reforming in 2009, selling over 15 million records. Webbe released three solo studio a ...

to form the group

. Blue's R&B-influenced pop allowed the group to achieve commercial success in the United Kingdom and many other countries, including Ireland, Portugal, Belgium, Italy, France, Australia and New Zealand. The band released their debut single " All Rise" in May 2001 and it reached number 4 on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. Their follow-up single " Too Close" was released in August 2001 peaking at No. 1 on the UK Singles Chart. They went on to achieve a second number one in November with the ballad "

If You Come Back "If You Come Back" is a song by English boy band Blue, released as the third single from their debut studio album, '' All Rise'' (2001). It was written by Ray Ruffin, Nicole Formescu, Ian Hope, and Lee Brennan of boy band 911. The song topped th ...

". The album '' All Rise'' was released in time for Christmas and reached number one, eventually selling in excess of 1.8 million albums in the UK. The final single from the album, "

Fly By II "Fly By II" is a song by English boy band Blue. It was released on 18 March 2002 as the fourth single from their debut studio album, '' All Rise'' (2001). The release includes the band's first non-album exclusive, "Love R.I.P". "Fly By II" is a ...

", reached number six in March 2002. Their second studio album, ''

One Love One Love may refer to: Music * One Love (record producer), Timothy Sommers, American record producer, half of the duo Kinetics & One Love * ''One Love: The Bob Marley Musical'', a 2015 stage musical Albums * One Love (Blue album), ''One Love'' (B ...

'' was released in October 2002, entering at No. 1 on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts C ...

and selling more than 150,000 copies. Three singles were released from the album: "

", which peaked at No. 3, "

Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin. It was recorded by Elton John and released in 1976, both as a single and as part of the ''Blue Moves'' album. It was John's seco ...

", featuring vocals from

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

, which peaked at No. 1, and " U Make Me Wanna", which peaked at #4. Their third studio album, ''

Guilty Guilty or The Guilty may refer to: * Guilt (emotion), an experience that occurs when a person believes they have violated a moral standard Law *Culpability, the degree to which an agent can be held responsible for action or inaction *Guilt (law) ...

'', was released in autumn 2003, entering at No. 1 on the

and selling 100,000 copies on the week of release. The album spawned four singles, including the title track, "Guilty", which peaked at No. 2, "Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours", featuring vocal from

Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, Pop musi ...

and

Angie Stone Angela Laverne Brown (born December 18, 1961) known professionally as Angie Stone, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. She rose to fame in the late 1970s as member of the hip hop trio The Sequence. In the early 1990s ...

, which peaked at No. 11, "Breathe Easy", which peaked at No. 4, and "Bubblin'", which peaked at No. 9. Following the release of ''Best of Blue'', includes three tracks only previously in Japan: "The Gift", "It's Alright" and "Elements". By the indication of the album booklet, a live version of "Lonely This Christmas" from CD:UK was intended to be track seven on the album, however, was removed from the track listing for unknown reasons. The album was released in July 2005, becoming available in several European countries, as well as Japan, Thailand and China, however, was a commercial failure and failed to chart anywhere. The album was not released in the UK, despite copies being widely available.

2006–2010: ''Heart Full of Soul'', stage and television

Costa was a contestant on the 2005 series of '' I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!'' and was evicted from the programme on 3 December 2005 after fourteen days. He released his debut solo single called " Do You Ever Think of Me" in February 2006. The single made its debut and peaked at number nineteen on the

. Costa worked on the song with Songwriter John McLaughlin and performed live with Scottish session musician Paul Boyd. He went on to compete in the 2006 '' Eurovision: Making Your Mind Up'' programme to find a competitor to represent the UK in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2006 The Eurovision Song Contest 2006 was the 51st edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Athens, Greece, following the country's victory at the with the song "My Number One" by Helena Paparizou. Organised by the European Broadcasti ...

, but did not win the honour, with "It's a Beautiful Thing". In June 2006 Costa posed naked for ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

'' magazine's 10 Years of Naked Male Centrefolds, alongside other stars including singer

Ronan Keating Ronan Patrick John Keating (born 3 March 1977) is an Irish singer. He debuted in 1993 alongside Keith Duffy, Michael Graham, Shane Lynch, and Stephen Gately, as the co-lead singer (with Gately) of Irish pop group Boyzone. His solo career start ...

, actor

Danny Dyer Danial John Dyer (born 24 July 1977) is an English actor and presenter. Dyer's breakthrough role was as Moff in ''Human Traffic'', with other notable roles as Mick Carter in EastEnders, Billy the Limpet in '' Mean Machine'' and as Tommy Johns ...

, Labour MP

Jim Devine James Devine (born 21 May 1953) is a former Member of Parliament. He was the Labour Party member for Livingston from 2005 until 2010 and Chairman of the Scottish Labour Party between 1994 and 1995. On 16 June 2009, following the 2009 expenses ...

, and TV presenter

Craig Doyle Craig Doyle (born 17 December 1970, Dublin) is an Irish television and radio presenter. To British viewers he is recognisable as working for the BBC and ITV and more recently BT Sport. Irish viewers also know him as the host of RTÉ One chat ...

. Costa's debut album, ''

Heart Full of Soul "Heart Full of Soul" is a song recorded by English rock group the Yardbirds in 1965. Written by Graham Gouldman, it was the Yardbirds' first single after Jeff Beck replaced Eric Clapton as lead guitarist. Released only three months after "Fo ...

'' was released on 3 July 2006 only in Japan by his record label, Globe Records. From 10 April 2006, Costa played the lead role of Mickey Johnstone in the London production of the long-running musical '' Blood Brothers'', directed and produced by

Bill Kenwright William Kenwright, CBE (born 4 September 1945) is an English West End theatre producer and film producer. He has also been the chairman of Everton Football Club since 2004. Kenwright was born in Liverpool and attended Booker Avenue County Prima ...

; his contract ran to February 2007. From March, Costa toured the UK in the tenth anniversary tour of ''Boogie Nights''. Costa had his first solo UK tour in February and March 2008, performing songs from his debut album. His UK tour had eighteen dates, which started on 16 February 2008 at The Brindley, in

Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and cargo port in the Borough of Halton in Cheshire, England. Its population in 2011 was 61,789. The town is in the southeast of the Liverpool City Region, with Liverpool to the northwest across the River Mersey. ...

and finished on 26 March 2008 in

Barrow in Furness Barrow-in-Furness is a port town in Cumbria, England. Historically in Lancashire, it was incorporated as a municipal borough in 1867 and merged with Dalton-in-Furness Urban District in 1974 to form the Borough of Barrow-in-Furness. In 2023 the ...

. He modelled for

Giorgio Armani Giorgio Armani (; born 11 July 1934) is an Italian fashion designer. He first gained notoriety working for Cerruti and then for many others, including Allegri, Bagutta and Hilton. He formed his company, Armani, in 1975, which eventually expande ...

in late 2008. Costa has appeared twice on the BBC pop quiz ''

Never Mind the Buzzcocks ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' is a British comedy panel game show with a pop music theme. It has aired on Sky Max since September 2021, having originally aired between November 1996 and January 2015 on BBC Two. The original series was first hoste ...

'' in 2006 and 2008 Costa played Jack in the 2009/2010 pantomime, ''Jack and the Beanstalk'', in

Ipswich Ipswich () is a port town and borough in Suffolk, England, of which it is the county town. The town is located in East Anglia about away from the mouth of the River Orwell and the North Sea. Ipswich is both on the Great Eastern Main Line r ...

. Costa toured with the production ''Popstar: The Musical'', playing the part of Cal between April and July 2010, at a series of theatres, across the UK. Costa took part in a celebrity version of TV show

Total Wipeout ''Total Wipeout'' is a British game show, hosted by Richard Hammond and Amanda Byram, which first aired on the BBC on 3 January 2009. In each episode, contestants competed in a series of challenges in an attempt to win £10,000. These challen ...

which aired on 18 September 2010.

2011–present: Return with Blue

The group represented the United Kingdom at the

2011 Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest 2011 was the 56th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Düsseldorf, Germany, following the country's victory at the with the song "Satellite" by Lena. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union ...

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

, Germany with the song " I Can" coming in 11th place with 100 points. Blue released their fourth studio album, ''

Roulette Roulette is a casino game named after the French word meaning ''little wheel'' which was likely developed from the Italian game Biribi''.'' In the game, a player may choose to place a bet on a single number, various groupings of numbers, the ...

'' on 25 January 2013 with "

Hurt Lovers "Hurt Lovers" is a song by English boy band Blue. It was written by Alexander Zuckowski, Martin "Fly" Fliegenschmidt, Jez Ashurst, and David Jost and recorded for the group's fourth studio album, ''Roulette'' (2013). Production was helmed by Gru ...

" as the lead single. On 21 February 2013, it was confirmed that the group would be joining ''

The Big Reunion ''The Big Reunion'' is a British reality-documentary series that began airing on ITV2 on 31 January 2013. The show featured chart-topping bands who were big in the UK pop music scene between the 1990s and early 2000s, and the programme followed ...

'' in which six groups from the past reform for a one-off gig including

Liberty X Liberty X (originally called Liberty) are a British-Irish group originally consisting of Michelle Heaton, Tony Lundon, Kevin Simm, Jessica Taylor and Kelli Young. The group was formed by the five finalists of the 2001 ITV talent show ''Popstars' ...

Atomic Kitten Atomic Kitten is an English girl group formed in Liverpool in 1998, whose current members are Liz McClarnon, Jenny Frost and Natasha Hamilton. The group was founded by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) members Andy McCluskey and Stuart K ...

and

5ive Five (stylised as 5ive) are a British boy band from London consisting of members Sean Conlon, Ritchie Neville, and Scott Robinson. They were formed in 1997 by the same team that managed the Spice Girls before they launched their career. The gro ...

. From May 2013, the group will be touring the UK and Ireland with the other groups in

concert series. On 27 March 2013, the group announced they would embark on their first headlining tour later on in the year, their first tour in nearly ten years. In April 2016, Antony will join the cast of the musical Save The Last Dance For Me, playing the part of Milton, touring the UK until October 2016. On 30 November 2021 Blue confirmed they would be going on an arena tour to celebrate their 20th anniversary, it was also confirmed that

would be supporting them on the tour. When interviewed on '' This Morning'' the group also confirmed that they were back in the studio recording, a new album is expected to follow along with the tour. On 11 April 2022 the group announced that their sixth studio album ''Heart & Soul'' which would be released on 9 September 2022. On 20 May the group unveiled the track listing for the album on their social media accounts, following with first single "Haven't Found You Yet". On 29 June 2022, the group released the single " Dance with Me", a cover of the 2001

112 112 may refer to: *112 (number), the natural number following 111 and preceding 113 *112 (band), an American R&B quartet from Atlanta, Georgia **112 (album), ''112'' (album), album from the band of the same name *112 (emergency telephone number), t ...

single.

Filmography

Discography

Albums

Singles

References

External links

Antony Costa sings karaoke at Lucky Voice Brighton with Heart competition winner

The Chase Official

The Chase YouTube Channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Costa, Antony 1981 births Living people Blue (English band) members English people of Greek Cypriot descent English pop singers English male singer-songwriters Singers from London People from Edgware English people of Jewish descent British contemporary R&B singers I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (British TV series) participants