Brian Lee Harvey (born 8 August 1974) is a British singer from

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. He was the lead singer of pop group

East 17 East 17 are an English pop boy band started by Tony Mortimer, 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, ...

. The later incarnation of the band, E-17, had two top 20 singles 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 1998 and 1999, with the 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 ...

'' peaking within the top 50 of 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 ...

. After leaving E-17, Harvey signed a record deal with

Edel Records Edel SE & Co. KGaA is a German independent media company based in Hamburg. As a label and publishing group, it also operates marketing and sales for artists and smaller music labels. The repertoire of the Edel labels includes dance, rock and po ...

and had two singles released in 2001, "Straight Up (No Bends)" and "Loving You (Ole Ole Ole)".

Career

Harvey's vocal style emulated R&B and

new jack swing New jack swing, new jack, or swingbeat is a fusion genre of the rhythms and production techniques of hip hop and dance-pop, and the urban contemporary sound of R&B. Spearheaded by producers Teddy Riley and Bernard Belle, new jack swing was mos ...

vocalists from the United States. His vocals put him into a position of the group's frontman, or main member, which was shared with the group's creator, songwriter, instrumentalist, rapper and singer

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 ...

. In 1997, Harvey was sacked from East 17 after making comments in a radio interview that appeared to condone the use of the drug ecstasy, causing an uproar in the press and the matter being raised in the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...

. Mortimer left East 17 several months later. Harvey eventually rejoined the group under the rebranded name of E-17. As E-17, the group had two top 20 singles on the

between 1998 and 1999, with the album ''

'' reaching the UK Top 50. In 2000, Harvey collaborated with

True Steppers True Steppers were a British UK garage production duo, consisting of Jonny Lisners and Andy Lysandrou. They had success with Dane Bowers on "Buggin", which peaked at number six on the UK Singles Chart in April 2000. Their biggest selling recor ...

with the song "

True Step Tonight "True Step Tonight" is a song by UK garage duo True Steppers, released as their third single, featuring former East 17 singer Brian Harvey and U.S. R&B star Donell Jones on guest vocals. It reached number 25 on the UK Singles Chart The UK ...

" featuring

Donell Jones Donell Jones (born May 22, 1973) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is most notable for the hits "U Know What's Up", " Where I Wanna Be", and his cover of Stevie Wonder's "Knocks Me Off My Feet". Jones' first studio alb ...

, which peaked at number 26 on the

. After E-17, he signed a record deal with

and had two singles released in 2001, "Straight Up (No Bends)" (No. 26 UK) and "Loving You (Ole Ole Ole)" (No. 20 UK). In 2004, Harvey appeared in the fourth series of "'' I'm A Celebrity...Get Me Out Of Here!''". Harvey walked out of the jungle after six days due to the passing of his grandmother. On 17 March 2007, Harvey performed a song entitled "I Can" for ''

Making Your Mind Up "Making Your Mind Up" is a song by the British pop group Bucks Fizz. It was the winner of the 1981 Eurovision Song Contest, representing the , and was composed by Andy Hill and John Danter. Released in March 1981, it was Bucks Fizz's debut si ...

'', the United Kingdom's national final for the

Eurovision Song Contest The Eurovision Song Contest (), sometimes abbreviated to ESC and often known simply as Eurovision, is an international songwriting competition organised annually by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), featuring participants representing pr ...

. The song was written by singer

Conner Reeves Conner Reeves (born 8 April 1972) is an English singer and songwriter. He is best known for his 1997 album ''Earthbound'' which was released on Colin Lester's and Ian McAndrew's Wildstar label. Reeves scored five Top 40 singles in the UK Sing ...

. Harvey was eliminated after the first round of voting and the eventual winners were

Scooch Scooch is a British pop group, comprising performers Natalie Powers, Caroline Barnes, David Ducasse and Russ Spencer. Scooch represented the United Kingdom in the Eurovision Song Contest 2007 in Helsinki with their song "Flying the Flag (For Y ...

. In 2014, he released a new single, "Invisible". In 2019, Harvey was making music with rapper Cryptik Soul. He was featured in the songs "A Ghetto Luv Story" and "Bang 'Em Up" on Cryptik Soul's album ''Killer's Blood''. The album was supported by the singles "Come & Save Me" and "Bang 'Em Up".

Personal life

Harvey was married to dancer Natasha Carnegie with whom he has a daughter. On 12 December 2001, Harvey was attacked with a knife in a club car park in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located north-west of London, south-east ...

. In May 2005, after being diagnosed with

clinical depression Major depressive disorder (MDD), also known as clinical depression, is a mental disorder characterized by at least two weeks of pervasive low mood, low self-esteem, and loss of interest or pleasure in normally enjoyable activities. Introdu ...

, Harvey was hospitalised after an alleged suicide attempt. On 31 May 2005, he was re-admitted to hospital in a critical condition after falling under the wheels of his car.

Discography

Studio albums

East 17

* 1992 – ''

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 ...

'' * 1994 – ''

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 ...

'' * 1995 – '' Up All Night''

E-17

* 1998 – ''

Solo

*2001: ''Solo''

Singles

*2000: "

" (

featuring Brian Harvey and

) – No. 25 UK *2001: "

Straight Up (No Bends) "Straight Up (No Bends)" is the debut solo single by East 17 singer Brian Harvey. The single was released on 23 April 2001 and reached #26 on the UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the up ...

" – No. 26 UK *2001: "

Loving You (Ole Ole Ole) "Loving You (Ole Ole Ole)" is the second single from Brian Harvey's debut solo album, ''Solo''. The track is a collaboration with The Refugee Crew. The single was released on 15 October 2001, reaching #20 on the UK Singles Chart. Music video ...

" (Brian Harvey and The Refugee Crew) – No. 20 UK *2002: "Senorita" *2007: " I Can" *2010: "Going Backwardz" *2012: "This Isn't Love" *2012: "We Going In" (G.M.T.A featuring Brian Harvey) *2014: "Invisible" *2019: "Come & Save Me" (Cryptik Soul featuring Brian Harvey and Shotti) *2019: "Bang 'Em Up" (Cryptik Soul featuring the Styles of L, Kryptic and Brian Harvey)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harvey, Brian 1974 births Living people English male singers British male singers English pop singers British pop singers East 17 members People from London Sony Music Publishing artists British contemporary R&B singers I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! (British TV series) participants People educated at Sir George Monoux College