Five Star - Biography

Biography

The five-piece group of siblings from Romford, London were masterminded by their father and manager, Buster Pearson, in the style of The Jackson 5. He was a former session musician who had worked with Wilson Pickett and had set up Tent Records Inc. to release the group's material, backed by RCA Records. Following the release of Five Star's debut album, Luxury of Life in 1985, the group scored their first Top 10 hit in 1986 with "System Addict". The group also began to gain a following in the United States and several singles made the Billboard Dance and R&B Charts Top 10. Their second album, Silk and Steel, released in 1986, included five UK Top 10 chart hits: "Can't Wait Another Minute", "Find The Time", "Rain Or Shine", "Stay Out Of My Life" (penned by Denise) and "The Slightest Touch". The album itself reached number one and sold 1.2 million copies in the UK alone. In 1987, the group won the BRIT Award for Best British Group, and also saw the release of their third album, Between The Lines, which reached number seven in the UK. However, none of this album's singles made the Top 10.

In 1988 the group attempted to change their clean-cut image to a more adult-oriented "leather clad" look, matched with a slightly harder-edged dance sound. Led by the Leon Sylvers III produced single, "Another Weekend", their fourth album Rock the World met with only moderate success, and was their last Top 20 album. The album's second single, "Rock My World", became their last Top 40 hit, and further singles from the album were unsuccessful.

In 1989 their Greatest Hits collection peaked at a lowly No.53 on the UK album chart. In April of that year, the group had made an infamous appearance on the British children's TV show Going Live, when, during a live phone-in, a teenage caller called them "fucking crap". To make matters worse, amid reports of bankruptcy, the family had been forced to sell their Berkshire mansion after only two years. The family then moved to Hatfield, Hertfordshire.

Now at loggerheads with RCA, Buster Pearson signed the group to Epic Records in 1990, and the group's fifth studio album, Five Star, was self-produced at the family home. Despite heavy promotion, its two singles, "Treat Me Like A Lady" and "Hot Love", failed. A planned third single, "What About Me Baby" was shelved, and the UK release of the album abandoned. In October, Stedman Pearson pleaded guilty to a charge of public indecency after being arrested in a public toilet in New Malden in London. Following this, the band relocated to the United States.

After the 1991 release of their sixth album, Shine, Epic Records dropped the group. In 1994, the group released an album on their own Tent label, Heart And Soul, which was reissued in 1995 in the UK. Again, chart success eluded them and the group informally ended. Denise got married and had children, and Delroy went into musical production.

In 2001, a new Five Star single, "Funktafied", peaked at number 99 on the U.S. R&B Chart. However, the accompanying new album Eclipse was not a success and was the group's final album to date. Five Star returned to the UK in 2002, as a trio of Stedman, Denise and Lorraine, to perform on various tours, including the Here and Now nostalgia tour. In 2005, "System Addict" was re-recorded and re-released. Five Star were booked to perform a gig at Butlins in October 2006, in which all five members were billed. However, three impersonators were used to mime to backing tapes.

Denise revealed in 2007 that she was working on solo material, although only one track has so far been officially released.

In March 2007, Sony BMG released a compilation DVD of all the group's videos, entitled Five Star Performance.

For Five Star's 25th anniversary in 2008, Denise joined Stedman and backing dancers for gigs at Butlins during October and November 2008. Earlier that year, Denise stated in an interview with The Guardian newspaper that if she could convince sister Lorraine to join them, then all five original members of the group would like to perform one last tour together. The following year, she made her West End debut performing in Thriller - Live at the Lyric Theatre from January to December 2009.

In 2010 it was announced that Cherry Pop records would be releasing Special Edition CDs of their first two albums Luxury of Life and Silk and Steel.

The very first song recorded by Five Star from 1983, "Problematic", was released digitally on 18 July 2011, along with a previously unreleased track called "It", which is an outtake from the Heart And Soul album sessions from 1995.

Five Star are performing at the 2012 Rewind Festivals, on 21 July at Scone Palace, Perth, Scotland, and on 18 August at Henley-On-Thames.

In March 2012, Denise Pearson appeared on BBC talent show, The Voice UK, as a contestant. She joined the team of Tom Jones after singing Fighter by Christina Aguilera.

Denise Pearson will be appearing as the fairy godmother in Cinderella,at the Milton Keynes Theatre, from 7th December 2012 until 6th January 2013.