Blue remain one of the most recognisable names within the array of early 2000s boy bands. After getting together at the turn of the millennium, they achieved three number ones on the Official UK Singles Charts, sold over fifteen million records worldwide, represented the United Kingdom at 2011’s Eurovision Song Contest, and since then have embarked upon successful individual solo careers. Now, the boys have reunited for a tour to celebrate the 25th anniversary of their debut single, ‘All Rise’ which shot to number four upon its release in May 2001. With a new top two album under their belt to accompany them, Duncan James and Manchester’s own Simon Webbe discussed their upcoming tour, solo endeavours, and their experience of fame in the early days of Blue.
During their 25 years as a band, Blue have frequently performed in Manchester, most recently opening for Olly Murs at Co-Op Live. On this tour, they will play a show at Bridgewater Hall in April, before returning in May to play at the Opera House. “For me personally, Manchester is my home, so it's always going to feel different from the rest of the cities we’re performing in”, Webbe stated. “It’s not just another date on the tour, family are in the crowd so there's a lot of pride there. When I come to Manchester, I'm not just an artist, I'm a son of the city”.
“For me it's a massive dream come true. I grew up in Moss Side and often drove past the arena with my parents or my uncles and aunts who would say so-and-so was playing there. I always used to wonder what was going on in there, and then to find yourself in those venues and on the stage is so special. I used to clean the Bridgewater Hall as well, I used to get there at five in the morning and finish at seven in the evening. Manchester's got so many memories for me, but to now be able to go there and perform with three brothers of mine that God put in my path over 25 years ago, it's more emotional for me".
"Every time we've gone to Manchester over the years, we've always been received by such a lovely, warm, friendly audience”, James interjected. “I think it makes it even more special because it's Si’s hometown. I'm not saying that other places aren't friendly and warm, but I think out of all the cities we get to tour in, Manchester is one of my favourites”.
Outside of Blue, both Webbe and James have released solo material, with Webbe releasing his debut solo album Sanctuary in November 2005 and James with Future Past the following June. When asked about the experience of recording, releasing, and performing as a solo act compared to the boy band dynamic, Webbe was quick to air his views: “I hate it. Nothing compares to being in a band. Solo careers weren’t exactly forced upon us, but it's not something that I really wanted to do at the time, but the opportunity came up where I could carry on singing. I was thinking, just over three years before I was signing on in Moss Side job centre and now I don't want this to stop. So when I got the opportunity, I just thought, okay, I'm going to get in the studio”.
“At that point, being in the studio felt familiar. I just wanted to keep on having familiar surroundings, so that's why I sort of went along with the solo stuff. But then it was really successful”, something he can say with certainty, with his debut solo single and its follow-up both peaking at number four on the Official UK Singles Charts. “I remember the first time performing”, Webbe continues. “I had some kind of autopilot in my head where I would sing four lines and my arm would drop away from the microphone. I'd look to my right for someone else to come in, and no one was there. I would think, I've got to sing this song on my own, I don't like this feeling, and then from there I remember feeling so uncomfortable”.
“As soon as we got a chance to get back in the studio together, I jumped at it, and we haven't looked back since. It’s great doing things by yourself and outside of the group because it does keep things fresh, but the main foundation has got to be Blue for me”. Alongside solo careers in music, the two also share musical theatre experience, with Webbe appearing alongside Whoopi Goldberg in a 2010 run of Sister Act at the London Palladium, and James appearing in a West End production of Legally Blonde. “Being in a show, you're with a group of people which is great. I've always loved being in a group, before I was in Blue I was in two other bands. I'm not somebody who likes being on my own. I’m an only child, so I'm used to having to be on my own, but I don't necessarily like it. I did always miss being with the boys, and when we took our time out from each other, obviously we still needed to work, so we had to go and do other bits and bobs”, James admitted.
“I've always loved musical theatre. I was a drama kid at school, so I studied it and trained it and that was what I thought I was always going to do. Getting into it was great because I had an opportunity to become really good friends with people like Sheridan Smith when I did Legally Blonde with her, and people like Bonnie Langford when I did Chicago, who is still a great friend today”, he continued. “But I always missed being in the band with the boys, that always resonated with me. It doesn't matter what show I was in, I always found it tough. It's eight shows a week, it’s like being at school sometimes with a regimented set of rules”.
“I remember thinking, it’s so easy being in Blue. We could just rock up when we wanted to and get on stage, we didn’t have to learn the lines and we didn’t have to learn a script. We would always fall back into place, and it was amazing. Even now, when we haven't seen each other for a few weeks and we come back to do the first show, it fits like a perfect glove. Nowadays, I’m at an age where I don’t want to have the stress of having to learn too much, my memory is terrible. Just being with the boys and getting up on stage and performing and travelling the world means that I wake up every day feeling so blessed. I’ve got the best job in the world”.
“I'd like to echo that”, Webbe agreed. “I think musical theatre is definitely a different discipline, and it was a discipline that was a privilege to learn. But for me personally, I didn't have the strongest voice. And when I got to theatre, I realised that these guys are just on a different level when it comes to the talent, the trained musical theatre talent is different to what I was used to. So just being able to be in that company and learning from different people, different techniques of how to use your voice, it was great training for us to return to Blue with because now our vocals together are much stronger than they used to be 25 years ago. I think musical theatre has really helped each and every one of us to work on our self-performance, and also on our voices”.
Blue experienced huge success at the beginning of their career, achieving a top five single with ‘All Rise’, the first song they released. “I don't think we really understood what was going on at the time because we were in such a bubble”, James admits. “Of course, there was no social media back then, so we were pretty much avoidant to anything that was going on because every single day we were with our tour manager in a car, driving up and down the country doing gigs. So we never really realised at first how successful Blue was becoming”.
“Of course, because social media wasn't so prevalent, we didn't know that we were popping off in all these different countries as well. So we would just get on a flight, we would land wherever we were going, we would get out of the car and we'd be completely dumbstruck by how many fans would be turning up at the airport. We were always questioning, how do they know we're here? How do they know we're staying in this hotel? It was so strange. The fans have so many ways of finding out where you are and what you're doing. I think over the next few years, as Blue started getting more and more successful it actually became a bit scarier because the bubble sort of burst. I remember one day feeling completely overwhelmed by everything, I hadn't seen my mum for ages because we'd been on the road for so long. We went for dinner in a restaurant, and I was trying to talk to my mum, and I remember all these people just wanting to come up and talk to me, and I remember just wanting to go home because I didn't want to be around everybody. I just wanted to see my mum, but it ended up being a circus show, we were having paparazzi following us”.
“At the same time, we were having stories written about us, and most of the stories weren't true”, James continued. There were so many speculative stories that I was apparently dating all these different women, and I knew that wasn’t true”, he jests, nodding to the fact that he has is openly gay. “They were just writing what they wanted to write and it did become pretty scary. It was the early noughties; the tabloid press era was very salacious. It was always about following celebrities, finding out where they were going and what they were doing. You felt that people were always popping out of bushes, you’d go to the shop to get some milk in the morning and the next day there's a picture of you in the paper saying Duncan's not looking as great. I just woke up and popped to the shot, I didn't expect to get bloody paparazzi”.
“Sometimes we had to take things with a pinch of salt”, Webbe states. “Most of the time for me, it was getting followed out of clubs. I was a clubber, I loved going out in the West End, I was definitely one of those West End boys, Monday to Sunday in a club. Paparazzi would be outside, and they’d often follow you on mopeds. We used to try to lose them, but it was quite dangerous back then as well. That was just part of the game; I didn’t want it to stress me out. What can you do if the story that’s been written about you isn’t true? I tried to not let it affect me, to have thicker skin than normal”.
Speaking finally on the band’s formation, James reminisced that “back in the day we were put together by a management company who were employed by Virgin Records to go and find some talent. It just so happened that me and the boys sort of knew each other before, but it was very much the luck of the gods bringing us together”. It's clear to see that Blue have maintained a brotherly connection, which is sure to be on display throughout their upcoming tour. Both James and Webbe are earnest, down-to-earth people, and perhaps this is why their careers have been able to continue, albeit with a few blips, for 25 years. They’ve grappled with the overwhelming experience of instantaneous fame and the loneliness of going solo, all in the midst of tabloid rumours and their own personal issues: it can’t be denied that they deserve to celebrate. Blue are celebrating their 25th anniversary with a UK tour this April and May. For tickets and more information, visit https://myticket.co.uk/artists/blue
Credit: Blue / Emma McHarrie PR
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