Simon Solomon Webbe (born 30 March 1979) is a British singer. He is best known as a member of the boy band

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 ...

, forming in 2000 before splitting in 2005 and reforming in 2009, selling over 15 million records. Webbe released three solo studio albums in 2005, 2006 and 2017, sold over 700,000 records worldwide and had five UK Top 40 singles.

History

Webbe was born on 30 March 1978. His parents are of Saint Kitts and Nevis descent.

2001–2005: Early career and Blue

The band released their debut single " All Rise" in May 2001 and it reached number 4 in 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 ...

. Blue's second single was released in August with the chart-topping " Too Close", a cover version of Next's US number 1 hit produced by Ray Ruffin. Their second number one came in November with " If You Come Back" also produced by Ray Ruffin and co-written by Nicole Anderson aka Nicole Formescu, Lee Brennan, Ian Hope and Ray Ruffin off the album '' All Rise'', which was released in time for Christmas and reached number one, eventually selling in excess of about 1.8 million albums sold in the UK. Blue reached number six in March 2002 with their fourth single, " Fly By II" – a remix of album track "Fly By", which also went to number 30 in Portugal. Their second studio album '' One Love'' was released in 2002. The album entered at UK number 1, where it stayed for one week. Three singles were released from the album: " One Love" (UK number 3), " Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" featuring

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 ...

(UK number 1), and "U Make Me Wanna" (UK number 4). The group also performed the song "Flexin'" at the 2003 MTV Asia Awards with the Philippines' singer Kyla. '' Guilty'' (the album and the single

K number 2 K, or k, is the eleventh letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''kay'' (pronounced ), plural ''kays''. The letter K ...

was released in late 2003. The next singles were "Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours" (sung with

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, s ...

and Angie Stone) (UK number 11), "Breathe Easy" (UK number 4), and "Bubblin'" (UK number 9). The album ''Guilty'' sold more than one million copies in the UK. The band decided to split after

suggested that their popularity was decreasing and that they should concentrate on their solo careers. '' Best of Blue'' greatest hits compilation was released in 2004, which contained all-time hits including new tracks such as " Curtain Falls", "Get Down on It" and "Only Words I Know". The album was No.2 on charts in Portugal with a double platinum certification.

2005–2006: ''Sanctuary''

Webbe launched his post-Blue career on 22 August 2005 with his first solo single " Lay Your Hands" which peaked at number 4 on the UK Singles Chart. His follow-up single " No Worries" reached No.4 in the UK, making him the only Blue member to have multiple Top 10 singles. After the release of two singles, Webbe released his debut solo album ''

Sanctuary A sanctuary, in its original meaning, is a sacred place, such as a shrine. By the use of such places as a haven, by extension the term has come to be used for any place of safety. This secondary use can be categorized into human sanctuary, a sa ...

'' which debuted at number 28 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 ...

. Despite its relatively low debut it eventually reached number 7 on the

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent ...

and has now gone double platinum. The third single from ''Sanctuary'', " After All This Time" was released in February 2006, but it failed to do as well as his previous releases and peaked at number 16.

2006–2007: ''Grace'' and "Run"

On 30 October 2006, came the first single from Webbe's new album " Coming Around Again". When released it reached number 12 in the UK Singles Chart. His second album ''

Grace Grace may refer to: Places United States * Grace, Idaho, a city * Grace (CTA station), Chicago Transit Authority's Howard Line, Illinois * Little Goose Creek (Kentucky), location of Grace post office * Grace, Carroll County, Missouri, an uninc ...

'' was released on 13 November 2006, and peaked at number 11 in the UK Albums Chart. The second single " My Soul Pleads for You" was released on 19 February 2007, and reached 45 on the singles chart. On 21 May 2007, Webbe launched his first tour to support his second album ''Grace''. The tour consisted of 18 dates through May and June, starting in

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

and culminating in London. In early June, it was announced that Webbe would be releasing the title track from his second studio album with the theme song from the upcoming film '' Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer''. The single was a

double A-side The A-side and B-side are the two sides of phonograph records and cassettes; these terms have often been printed on the labels of two-sided music recordings. The A-side usually features a recording that its artist, producer, or record company ...

release of "

"/" Ride the Storm". It reached number 36 in the UK. In Europe, " Seventeen" was released instead of "Grace". During his 2007 UK Tour, Webbe previewed some songs from his third studio album, including "Run", which he claimed had been announced as the first single. He also claimed that 'Run' could possibly be the title of the album. It is thought that the album was postponed from its 2009 release date due to the reunion of Blue, and that it will be released at some point in the future.

2008–2016: Blue reunion, Eurovision Song Contest and Television

Since entering the

music industry The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...

Webbe has extended his range of business ventures. His two most notable companies are Love 4 Music and Love 4 PR, both of which he co-runs with Jade Reuben. He managed the group VS who supported Blue on their tour. They were also signed to

Innocent Records Innocent Records was a pop record label created to cater to for EMI's Virgin Records more pop oriented acts. Following the success of the Spice Girls, Virgin Records decided to delve into the pop market. In doing so they poached Hugh Goldsmith ...

, the same label as Blue, and released three singles, "Love You Like Mad" (#7), "Call U Sexy" (#11) and "Make It Hot" (#29), plus an album, ''All Kinds of Trouble''. The band has since broken up and member Marvin Humes went on to be part of boyband JLS. He also managed North London rapper MR BLARNY who was the only other act (after VS) to sign to Webbe's LOVE 4 Music label. Later Webbe managed American/British girlband L.A.D.E., whose video for their unreleased single "Shake It Off" featured Webbe and Blue bandmate Duncan James. In return the girls appeared in Blue's single "Bubblin'" with MR BLARNY also featuring on the remixes. The British rapper is still recording music releasing "YOUR BEST TIME" in 2013 (featuring LOLA) while the current professional music status of the girls is unknown. Also in 2004, Webbe was voted ''

Company A company, abbreviated as co., is a legal entity representing an association of people, whether natural, legal or a mixture of both, with a specific objective. Company members share a common purpose and unite to achieve specific, declared ...

'' magazine's 62nd Sexiest Man Alive and appeared as a striker on Sky 1's '' The Match''. In 2008, he participated in British reality television show, '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'' Which he finished in fifth place. On 28 April 2009,

announced that they had reformed and will return to the stage with a new album coming soon. Webbe featured on Ras Kwame's Spit TV rapping with fellow Manchester hip-hop artists Lyrican and Hoodman. From 31 May to 28 August 2010, Webbe played the role of Curtis Shank in '' Sister Act the musical'' at the London Palladium. During his run, Webbe starred alongside

Sheila Hancock Dame Sheila Cameron Hancock (born 22 February 1933) is an English actress, singer, and author. Hancock trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art before starting her career in repertory theatre. Hancock went on to perform in plays and music ...

and Whoopi Goldberg. Webbe was a guest on '' Big Brother 11'' in August 2010, singing a new track to the housemates. Blue represented the United Kingdom in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2011 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 U ...

in Germany. The group finished 11th in the competition. On 23 November 2011, it was announced that Webbe would be taking part in the '' Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special''. Webbe was the first celebrity to compete (dancing the Cha Cha Cha to "

Merry Christmas Everybody "Merry Xmas Everybody" is a song by the British rock band Slade, released as a non-album single in 1973. The song was written by lead vocalist Noddy Holder and bassist Jim Lea, and it was produced by Chas Chandler. It was the band's sixth and ...

") – supported in the audience by fellow

bandmates Duncan James and

Antony Costa Antony Daniel Costa (born 23 June 1981) is an English singer and songwriter. He is best known as a member of the boy band Blue. Early life Costa was born in Edgware, North London, Costa attended Hendon School in nearby Barnet. He is half-Gree ...

. His celebrity partner was

Katya Virshilas Katya Virshilas (born 10 September 1983) is a Lithuanian-Canadian dancer and actress. Early life Virshilas was born in Lithuania, to a Jewish family. She subsequently moved to Israel at age 6, and to Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, at thir ...

. The judges placed Webbe in joint third – with a score of 36 out of 40. The '' Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special'' was broadcast on

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, ...

on 25 December 2011. On 21 August 2014, Webbe was confirmed on ITV's '' Good Morning Britain'' as a contestant on the upcoming twelfth series of ''

Strictly Come Dancing ''Strictly Come Dancing'' (informally known as ''Strictly'') is a British dance contest show in which celebrities partner with professional dancers to compete in mainly ballroom and Latin dance. Each couple is scored by a panel of usually 4 j ...

''. He was partnered with professional dancer

Kristina Rihanoff Kristina Rihanoff (russian: Кристина Пшеничных,: Kristina Pshenichnykh; born 22 September 1977) is a world finalist professional ballroom dancer, instructor, choreographer and author. She has a degree in Tourism and Hospitali ...

for the series and the pair were declared runners-up on 20 December. In August 2015, he appeared in George Stiles and Anthony Drewe's family musical The 3 Little Pigs at the Palace Theatre, London. He played the Big Bad Wolf.

2017–present: ''Smile'' and Blue 20th Anniversary

On 28 July 2017, Webbe announced the release of his third studio album ''Smile'' due for release on 13 October 2017. On 30 November 2021 the group confirmed they would be going on an arena tour to celebrate their 20th anniversary, it was also confirmed that Atomic Kitten 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 single.

Film appearances

In 2004, Webbe co-starred in the romantic-comedy '' The Truth About Love'', directed by

John Hay John Milton Hay (October 8, 1838July 1, 1905) was an American statesman and official whose career in government stretched over almost half a century. Beginning as a private secretary and assistant to Abraham Lincoln, Hay's highest office was U ...

. The film also featured

Jennifer Love Hewitt Jennifer Love Hewitt (born February 21, 1979) is an American actress and singer. Hewitt began her career as a child actress and singer, appearing in national television commercials before joining the cast of the Disney Channel series '' Kids I ...

, Dougray Scott and Jimi Mistry. His second acting project was a 2006 British gangster movie '' Rollin' with the Nines''. The film co-starred Vas Blackwood, Billy Murray, Robbie Gee and was directed by Julian Gilbey.

Personal life

Webbe has a daughter, Alanah (born 1996), with ex-girlfriend Nicola Jones, a shop assistant from

Solihull Solihull (, or ) is a market town and the administrative centre of the wider Metropolitan Borough of Solihull in West Midlands County, England. The town had a population of 126,577 at the 2021 Census. Solihull is situated on the River Blyth ...

. She is the inspiration for his 2007 single "Grace". He is a cousin of the Sugababes singer Keisha Buchanan. His brother Duane Bryan was a contestant on the 2012 series of ''

The Apprentice ''The Apprentice'' is a reality talent game show franchise originally aired in 2004 in the United States. Created by U.S.-based British producer Mark Burnett, the show depicts contestants from around the country with various professional backg ...

''. He is related to Labour Party politician Claudia Webbe.

Discography

Studio albums

* ''

'' (2005) * ''

'' (2006) * '' Smile'' (2017)