Paul Cattermole of S Club 7 Dies at 46
S Club 7‘s Paul Cattermole died at his home in Dorset, England, on Thursday (April 6). He was 46 years old.
The singer’s bandmates announced the news on Friday (April 7) via the official S Club 7 social media channels. “We are truly devastated by the passing of our brother Paul,” the other six members wrote alongside a smiling black-and-white photo of Cattermole. “There are no words to describe the deep sadness and loss we all feel. We were so lucky to have had him in our lives and are thankful for the amazing memories we have. He will be so deeply missed by each and every one of us. We ask that you respect the privacy of his family and of the band at this time.”
Cattermole’s death is a devastating loss for the British pop act — whose members also included Rachel Stevens, Hannah Spearritt, Tina Barrett, Jon Lee, Jo O’Meara and Bradley McIntosh — who had just announced in February they’d be reuniting for a 25th anniversary tour of the U.K. and Ireland this fall, including three already sold-out performances at London’s O2 Arena. As of press time, there’s no word on how the singer’s death might affect those plans.
While S Club 7 earned only a single Top 10 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 over the course of their teen pop heyday with 2000’s “Never Had a Dream Come True,” their success was exponentially larger in their native U.K., scoring three top three albums on the Official Albums chart. Additionally, all 13 of their singles peaked within the top five on the U.K.’s Official Singles chart, including four No. 1 hits.
Over the course of the group’s first three studio sets, Cattermole provided lead vocals on fan-favorite album cuts such as “Love Train,” “Good Times” and “Summertime Feeling.” He also dated bandmate Hannah Spearritt — once in 2001 and again briefly in 2015 — with their relationship being written into the band’s TV series Hollywood 7.
Cattermole left the band in 2002 to start the short-lived nu-metal band Skua, while his former bandmates dropped the “7” from their name and continued on for another year as simply S Club before disbanding in June 2003.
For much of the next two decades, Cattermole continued dabbling in his pop roots, joining O’Meara, McIntosh and, eventually, Barrett to form the spinoff group known as S Club 3. In late 2014, he and the other six members officially reunited for their first reunion tour, Bring It All Back 2015. The pop star also struggled financially in the 2010s, even publicly auctioning off two of his BRIT Awards on eBay to keep himself afloat.
Read S Club 7’s tribute to Cattermole below.
Glenn Rowley
Billboard
