Steve Brookstein
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Stephen Desmond "Steve" Brookstein''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916–2005.''; at ancestry.com (born 10 November 1968) is an English singer, who is best known for winning the first series of ''
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 ...
'' in 2004.Steve voted The X Factor winner
BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...


Early and personal life

Brookstein was born in Dulwich, London, England, the son of Malle, a council worker, and Errol Brookstein, a lorry driver. His father is South African and his mother is of Estonian descent. His great-grandfather was an Orthodox Jew. He is a supporter of
Crystal Palace F.C. Crystal Palace Football Club is a professional football club based in Selhurst in the Borough of Croydon, South London, England, who compete in the Premier League, the highest level of English football. Although formally created as a profes ...
In 1997, seven years before his breakthrough on ''The X Factor'', Brookstein was a finalist on the
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
series ''The Big Big Talent Show'', hosted by
Jonathan Ross Jonathan Stephen Ross (born 17 November 1960) is an English broadcaster, film critic, comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He presented the BBC One chat show ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' during the 2000s, hosted his own radio show on ...
.


Career


2004–2005: ''The X Factor'' and ''Heart and Soul''

In early 2004, Brookstein auditioned for the first series of ''
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 ...
'', a talent series aiming to discover new recording artists in the UK. His audition failed to impress two of the judges,
Sharon Osbourne Sharon Rachel Osbourne (née Levy, later Arden; born 9 October 1952) is a British-American television personality, music manager and author. She is married to heavy metal singer-songwriter Ozzy Osbourne and came to prominence while appearing ...
and
Louis Walsh Michael Louis Vincent Walsh (born 5 August 1952) is an Irish music manager and television personality. He has managed Johnny Logan, Boyzone, Jedward and Westlife, four of Ireland's most successful pop acts in the 1990s and 2000s. He later bec ...
, who thought he lacked the motivation and confidence to succeed but the third,
Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of ''The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on t ...
, asked Brookstein to return the following day and sing again. At the second audition, Brookstein managed to impress the other judges and was put through to the next stage of the competition. He reached the live shows, where contestants are put to the public vote, as one of three contestants in the Over 25s category mentored by Cowell. He reached the grand final on 11 December 2004 alongside G4 and won, despite him mixing up words and lines in his winner's song and a controversial outburst against him from Osbourne. However, according to Osbourne's subsequent autobiography, he had gained the most votes in every single one of the live shows. For five years, he held the record for the largest number of votes ever received in the final - 6 million, but this is now held by series 6 winner
Joe McElderry Joseph McElderry (; born 16 June 1991) is an English singer and songwriter. He won the sixth series of the ITV show ''The X Factor'' in 2009. His first single " The Climb" reached number one on both the UK Singles Chart and the Irish Single ...
, who received over 6.1 million votes. After winning ''The X Factor'', Brookstein was signed to the
Sony BMG Sony BMG Music Entertainment was an American record company owned as a 50–50 joint venture between Sony Corporation of America and Bertelsmann. The venture's successor, the revived Sony Music, is wholly owned by Sony, following their buyout o ...
record label through which he released his first single, a cover of
Phil Collins Philip David Charles Collins (born 30 January 1951) is an English singer, musician, songwriter, record producer and actor. He was the drummer and lead singer of the rock band Genesis and also has a career as a solo performer. Between 1982 and ...
' 1984
power ballad A sentimental ballad is an emotional style of music that often deals with romantic and intimate relationships, and to a lesser extent, loneliness, death, war, drug abuse, politics and religion, usually in a poignant but solemn manner.J. M. C ...
" Against All Odds", on 20 December 2004. The song debuted 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 ...
at number two and then climbed to
number one Number One most commonly refers to: * 1 (number) Number One, No. 1, or #1 may also refer to: Music Albums * ''Number 1'' (Big Bang album), and the title song * ''No. 1'' (BoA album), and the title song * ''No.1'' (EP), by CLC * ''n.1 ...
on 2 January 2005, going one better than Collins' original and staying there for one week. In Ireland, the song peaked at number 11. The music video for the song was a montage of clips from his time on ''The X Factor'', from his initial audition to his final performance after being declared the winner. Brookstein released his debut album '' Heart and Soul'' on 9 May 2005 through Sony BMG. Although Brookstein continued to perform tracks from the album on television shows such as '' CD:UK'', a second single failed to materialise. In August 2005, it was announced that Sony BMG had dropped him from their line-up only eight months after his ''X Factor'' victory and despite the success of his debut single and album. Brookstein maintains that the decision to drop him reportedly came after he was offered a second album and to come back on the show, which he declined as it was to be another album of covers and he preferred a mix of old and new. In August 2005, eight months after being dropped from his record label, Brookstein publicly attacked ''The X Factor'', claiming the show was "one big theatre... turning music into the
WWE World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...
" and that it was "killing music". Brookstein has publicly feuded with
Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of ''The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on t ...
and ''The X Factor'', claiming "there is absolutely no way he would want me within 100 miles of him" and admitting spending years feeling bitter about the way he was treated on the show. Although Brookstein enjoyed fleeting success with both his debut album and single both reaching number one – " Heart and Soul" and "Against All Odds" respectively – he was dropped by Cowell's management after the latter was accused of refusing Brookstein creative freedom.


2008–2010: Musicals and controversies

In June 2007, Brookstein appeared on the P&O
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...
to
Bilbao ) , motto = , image_map = , mapsize = 275 px , map_caption = Interactive map outlining Bilbao , pushpin_map = Spain Basque Country#Spain#Europe , pushpin_map_caption ...
car ferry, alongside ''The X Factor'' series 2 alumni
Chico Slimani Yousseph "Chico" Slimani (born 1971) is a British singer who rose to prominence in the United Kingdom after reaching the quarter-finals of the 2005 series of the talent show ''The X Factor''. In 2006, he had a number one hit on the British c ...
and
Journey South Journey South were an English singing duo, consisting of brothers Andy and Carl Pemberton. They are from Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire. Initially the brothers lead a five piece rock band 'The Answer' featuring musicians from the North East of ...
. In 2008, he played 'the father' in a touring production of the musical '' Our House''. In December 2009, when a Facebook campaign was launched to stop ''The X Factor'' winner from achieving the coveted Christmas number 1 spot, Brookstein backed the campaign to see
Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to simply Rage) is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerfor ...
's "
Killing in the Name "Killing in the Name" is a protest song by American rock band Rage Against the Machine, and appears on their 1992 self-titled debut album. It was released as the lead single from the album in November 1992. It features heavy drop-D guitar riff ...
" reach the top of the chart, targeting Cowell in an online rant. He further attacked Cowell, claiming the latter "ruined Christmas" and that he was dropped from his record label because he "wouldn't play the game". Brookstein also claimed the show was staged and the winner was fixed, and was subsequently removed from the official ''The X Factor'' website following those comments. Despite Brookstein's bitterness towards ''The X Factor'', he signed up to critique the show weekly on ''London 24'' in 2010, where he labelled the judges "ridiculous" and questioned the standards of several of the finalists, including
One Direction One Direction, often shortened to 1D, are an English-Irish pop boy band formed in London in 2010. The group are composed of Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, and previously Zayn Malik until his departure from the gr ...
band member
Louis Tomlinson Louis William Tomlinson (; born Louis Troy Austin; 24 December 1991) is an English singer and songwriter. He rose to fame as a member of the boy band One Direction. Tomlinson began his career appearing in television dramas before he auditioned ...
, and the vocal coach.


2011–present: Musical hiatus and ''Forgotten Man''

In 2013, Brookstein announced that his new album would be called ''Forgotten Man'' and would be released on 23 March 2014. Brookstein released a book on 21 November 2014, ''Getting over the X'', that describes his journey from winning ''The X Factor'' to having the press and industry turn their backs on him.


Discography


Albums


Singles


Other charted songs


Music videos


Concert tours

*''The X Factor'' Live Tour (2005) *The 40,000 Things Tour (2006) *The Great American Soul Book Tour (2007)


References


External links


Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brookstein, Steve 1968 births Living people English male singers People from Camberwell Singers from London The X Factor winners The X Factor (British TV series) winners English people of South African descent English people of Jewish descent English people of Estonian descent