East 17 are an English pop

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 ...

started by

Tony Mortimer Anthony Michael Mortimer (born 21 October 1970 in Stepney, London) is a British singer, songwriter and record producer from London. He is a former member of the boy band East 17, who were originally active from 1991 to 1997 and sold over 20 mill ...

, Brian Harvey, John Hendy, and Terry Coldwell in 1991. As of 2020, the group consists of Coldwell, Robbie Craig, and Joe Livermore. East 17 have undergone multiple lineup changes, with Coldwell remaining the only constant member. The group has achieved eighteen top-20 singles and four top-10 albums, and they were one of the UK's most popular boy bands during the early to mid-1990s, aided by strong tabloid interest in their 'bad boy' image, compared to the 'clean-cut' image of rivals

Take That Take That are an English pop group formed in Manchester in 1990. The group currently consists of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen. The original line-up also featured Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Barlow is the group's lead singe ...

. Their style blended pop and hip hop in songs such as " House of Love" and " Let It Rain". East 17 have sold over 18 million albums worldwide and according to the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with th ...

(BPI), they have been certified with sales of 1.8 million albums and 2.6 million singles in the UK. Their biggest hit, " Stay Another Day", was the UK

Christmas number one In the United Kingdom, Christmas number ones are singles that top the UK Singles Chart in the week in which Christmas Day falls. The singles have often been novelty songs, charity songs or songs with a Christmas theme. Historically, the volume ...

in 1994. The group continues today under the lineup of Terry Coldwell, Joe Livermore, and former

Artful Dodger Jack Dawkins, better known as the Artful Dodger, is a character in Charles Dickens's 1838 novel '' Oliver Twist''. The Dodger is a pickpocket, so called for his skill and cunning in that occupation. He is the leader of the gang of child criminal ...

collaborator Robbie Craig.

History

Formation (1991)

East 17 began in 1991 when

was promised a record deal with London Records after he presented his own material. The deal was granted under the condition that he form a group, which would be in the format that London Records were looking for. Mortimer later formed East 17 with Brian Harvey, John Hendy, and Terry Coldwell. The group was named East 17 after the postcode of their hometown,

Walthamstow Walthamstow ( or ) is a large town in East London, east London, England, within the Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county of Greater London and the Historic counties of England, ancient county of Essex. Situated northeast of Chari ...

. The original roles in the band were soon altered when Brian Harvey, who was intended to be a backup singer and dancer, was made lead singer due to his vocal talent.

''Walthamstow'' (1992–1993)

Mortimer wrote the majority of the group's songs, which often contained rap verses vocalised by him to complement Harvey's more fluid vocals. The group was usually seen as a grittier, more political and hip hop or rap-aligned ensemble than rival boy band

, as noted by Guy Adams of ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'': East 17 had twelve top-10 hits 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 ...

between 1992 and 1998. Their debut album, ''

'', reached 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 ...

. It featured a string of Top 20 singles, including " House of Love" and "Deep". " It's Alright" became a major success in Australia, reaching No. 1 in early 1994 for seven consecutive weeks, and No. 3 in the UK in 1993.

''Steam'' (1994)

In 1994, upon the release of their second album, ''

Steam Steam is a substance containing water in the gas phase, and sometimes also an aerosol of liquid water droplets, or air. This may occur due to evaporation or due to boiling, where heat is applied until water reaches the enthalpy of vaporization ...

'', East 17 scored their only UK number-one single with " Stay Another Day". It remained at the top for five weeks and was also that year's

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

number one.

''Up All Night'' (1995–1996)

The group's next album, 1995's '' Up All Night'', was less successful. In 1996, the group reached No. 2 with the track " If You Ever", a duet with Gabrielle. The single was featured on their compilation album '' Around the World Hit Singles: The Journey So Far''.

Mortimer's first departure and first split (1997)

In January 1997, Brian Harvey was engulfed in a drug-related controversy when he claimed that he had taken ecstasy pills on a night out, stating in the press that "It's cool to take drugs" and claiming that ecstasy "can make you a better person". This went against the group's image, and there was intense media scrutiny, leading to questions being raised in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

. With the group's career and reputation tarnished by the affair, Harvey was immediately sacked and Mortimer decided to leave several months later due to creative differences between himself and the rest of the group.

First reunion and second split (1998–1999)

Coldwell and Hendy later reinstated Harvey and attempted a comeback in 1998, renaming the group E-17. They landed a record deal with

Telstar Records Telstar Records was a British record label that operated from 1982 to 2004. Background Telstar was founded in 1982 by Sean O'Brien and Neil Palmer with a government loan of £120,00Telstar RecordsIt was launched as a specialist compilation mar ...

after recording an album's worth of self-written material in their home studios. Their first single as E-17 was "

Each Time "Each Time" is the first single released by English pop music, pop band East 17 under the name E-17, taken as the first single from their fourth studio album, ''Resurrection (East 17 album), Resurrection'' (1998). The song marked a major stylisti ...

", which reached No. 2 in the UK. But without Mortimer's songwriting influence, the group's initial success soon wavered; sales of their next single, " Betcha Can't Wait", were disappointing, reaching number 12 in the charts, and their album ''

Resurrection Resurrection or anastasis is the concept of coming back to life after death. In a number of religions, a dying-and-rising god is a deity which dies and is resurrected. Reincarnation is a similar process hypothesized by other religions, which ...

'' failed to make the UK Top 40. The band was later dropped by their label in 1999 and subsequently split up.

Post-split activities (1999–2006)

In 2001, Harvey, now as a solo artist, released a collaboration with

Wyclef Jean Nel Ust Wyclef Jean (; born October 17, 1969) is a Haitian rapper, musician, and actor. At the age of nine, Jean immigrated to the United States with his family. He first achieved fame as a member of the New Jersey hip hop group the Fugees, a ...

, with the Top-20 single " Loving You", but later returned to perform numerous gigs with Coldwell and Hendy. On the

ITV1 ITV1 (formerly known as ITV) is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the British media company ITV plc. It provides the Channel 3 public broadcast service across all of the United Kingdom except for t ...

docusoap Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

'' Redcoats'', the trio were shown performing at

Butlins Butlin's is a chain of large seaside resorts in the United Kingdom. Butlin's was founded by Billy Butlin to provide affordable holidays for ordinary British families. Between 1936 and 1966, ten camps were built, including one in Ireland and o ...

Bognor Bognor Regis (), sometimes simply known as Bognor (), is a town and seaside resort in West Sussex on the south coast of England, south-west of London, west of Brighton, south-east of Chichester and east of Portsmouth. Other nearby towns i ...

. Whilst in 2005, Harvey, Coldwell, and Hendy performed in Mongolia. In May 2005, Harvey was seriously injured in a car accident, requiring surgery.

Second reunion and Mortimer's second departure (2006–2009)

On 4 February 2006, Harvey appeared on the UK music television show '' CD:UK'', where he announced that East 17 might make a comeback with its original lineup. In mid-February 2006, the group reformed and played their first comeback concert on 30 May at the

Shepherd's Bush Empire Shepherd's Bush Empire (currently known as O2 Shepherd's Bush Empire for sponsorship reasons, and formerly known as the BBC Television Theatre) is a music venue in Shepherd's Bush, West London, run by the Academy Music Group. It was originally ...

in London. After reforming for the one-off performance, it was reported that Mortimer had left the group again due to a confrontation with Harvey, leading to an altercation between the two. A

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

documentary, ''East 17: The Reunion'', which charted the group's rise and fall, along with their subsequent attempt to re-launch, was broadcast in May 2007. 20061231 east17 02

East 17 continued to perform without Mortimer as a trio. They played at the

University of Strathclyde The University of Strathclyde ( gd, Oilthigh Shrath Chluaidh) is a public research university located in Glasgow, Scotland. Founded in 1796 as the Andersonian Institute, it is Glasgow's second-oldest university, having received its royal chart ...

on 24 September 2006, after DJ

Colin Murray Colin Murray (born Luke Wright on 10 March 1977) is a Northern Irish radio and television presenter. In 2010, he became host of BBC Television's ''Match of the Day 2'' on BBC Two, while still anchoring shows on BBC Radio 5 Live, including '' 5 ...

was unable to attend. A new single, "Fuck That", was due to be released in early 2008, along with a new album, "Universalization", but both went unreleased. East 17 performed at the

2009 Glastonbury Festival The 2009 Glastonbury Festival/Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts was held from 24 to 29 June 2009. Tickets Registration In a similar way to previous festivals, tickets for the 2009 event required pre-registration (of a ph ...

on 25 June in the dance lounge. In November 2009, the group collaborated with Mortimer in aid of the

Born Free Foundation The Born Free Foundation is an international wildlife charity that campaigns to "Keep Wildlife in the Wild". It protects wild animals in their natural habitat, campaigns against the keeping of wild animals in captivity and rescues wild animals in ...

. They performed two of their best-known songs—"Deep" and "Stay Another Day"—for the ''Wild & Live!'' event at the

Royal Albert Hall The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall on the northern edge of South Kensington, London. One of the UK's most treasured and distinctive buildings, it is held in trust for the nation and managed by a registered charity which receives no govern ...

. After the performance, the four agreed that it would be best if they never sang together again. However, according to a

BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...

interview with

Zoë Ball Zoe Louise Ball (born 23 November 1970) is a British radio and television presenter. She was the first female host of both ''Radio 1 Breakfast'' and '' The Radio 2 Breakfast Show'' for the BBC, and presented the 1990s children's show ''Live & ...

in December 2009, songwriter Tony Mortimer mentioned that the band were on "talking terms" and planning a comeback for 2010.

Mortimer's second return, Harvey's departure, Dreelan's arrival and departure, and ''Dark Light'' (2010–2013)

Tony Mortimer returned to East 17 in 2010. Brian Harvey left soon after, when his commitment was questioned by the rest of the group; he had been missing rehearsals and cancelling performances. In 2011,

T-Mobile T-Mobile is the brand name used by some of the mobile communications subsidiaries of the German telecommunications company Deutsche Telekom AG in the Czech Republic (T-Mobile Czech Republic), Poland (T-Mobile Polska), the United States (T-Mobile ...

used the East 17 song "House of Love" in a Royal Wedding "spoof" commercial. In April 2011, it was announced that Blair Dreelan had joined the band for their Back to the Future tour in August and September 2011 to promote their comeback single, "Secret of My Life". On 28 September 2011, Dreelan left the group due to contractual obligations. On 27 November 2011, East 17 appeared as musical guests on '' X Factor Romania''. East 17's fifth studio album, '' Dark Light'', along with the new single "I Can't Get You Off My Mind", were released in 2012.

Mortimer's third departure, Craig's arrival, ''24/7'', and Hendy's departure (2013–present)

Tony Mortimer departed for the third time in 2013. Robbie Craig later joined East 17 in early 2014. John Hendy and Terry Coldwell became the only original members in the group at that stage. In 2017, East 17 partook in

B*Witched B*Witched are an Irish girl group consisting of twin sisters Edele and Keavy Lynch, Lindsay Armaou and Sinéad O'Carroll. Originally active between 1997 and 2002, they enjoyed success in both Europe and North America between 1998 and 2002, r ...

's Australia & NZ Tour as a supporting act alongside

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 ...

, S Club 3, and

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 '' Popstar ...

. During this time, the band released their sixth studio album, ''24/7'', exclusively in Australia, titling it ''24/7: Australian Tour Edition''. In June 2018, John Hendy departed the group, citing personal reasons. Since then, Terry John joined the band as Hendy's replacement, performed with them at numerous shows, but eventually also left and was replaced by Joe Livermore. On 27 August 2021, East 17 released ''24/7'' internationally. On 27 May 2022, East 17 released a new single, said to be from an upcoming album, called "I Just Wanna".

Band members

Current * Terry Coldwell (1991–1997, 1998–1999, 2006–2013, 2014–present) * Robbie Craig (2014–present) * Joe Livermore (2019–present) Past * Terry John (2018-2019) * John Hendy (1991–1997, 1998–1999, 2006–2013, 2014-2018) * Brian Harvey (1991–1997, 1998–1999, 2006–2010) *

(1991–1997, 2006, 2010–2013)

Timeline

Tours

Main * Letting Off Steam: The Around the World Tour (1994–1995) * Moscow Olympic Stadium (1996) * East 17 Live in Australia (2012) Supporting * Australia & NZ Tour (2017)

Awards and nominations

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Mercury Prize The Mercury Prize, formerly called the Mercury Music Prize, is an annual music prize awarded for the best album released in the United Kingdom by a British or Irish act. It was created by Jon Webster and Robert Chandler in association with the B ...

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Bravo Otto Awards The Bravo Otto is a German accolade honoring excellence of performers in film, television and music. Established in 1957, the award is presented annually, with winners selected by the readers of ''Bravo'' magazine. The award is presented in ...

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Smash Hits Poll Winners Party The Smash Hits Poll Winners Party was a British awards ceremony which ran from 1979 (as the Smash Hits Readers' Poll) to 2005. Each award winner was voted by readers of the '' Smash Hits'' magazine. It ended with the closure of the magazine in F ...

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Brit Awards The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

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Ivor Novello Awards The Ivor Novello Awards, named after the entertainer Ivor Novello, are awards for songwriting and composing. They have been presented annually in London by the Ivors Academy (formerly the BASCA) since 1956, and over 1,000 statuettes have been a ...

, Most Performed Work , , , - ,

MTV Europe Music Awards The MTV Europe Music Awards (originally named MTV European Music Awards, commonly abbreviated as MTV EMA) are awards presented by Paramount International Networks to honour artists and music in pop culture. It was originally conceived as an a ...

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, " If I Ever Fall in Love" , Best Single , , rowspan=2, , - , Themselves , Best British Group ,

Discography

* ''

'' (1992) * ''

'' (1994) * '' Up All Night'' (1995) * ''

'' (1998) * '' Dark Light'' (2012) * ''24/7'' (2021)

References

External links

* {{Authority control English boy bands Musical groups from London Musical groups established in 1991 Pop-rap groups MTV Europe Music Award winners London Records artists Telstar Records artists