Lisa Scott-Lee

Lisa Scott-Lee (born 5 November 1975)[1] is a Welsh singer and member of the pop group Steps, formed in 1997. Scott-Lee signed a record deal with Mercury Records and launched a solo career in 2003 although her success was limited after the release her debut single "Lately", and was dropped after her second single. She released her debut solo album Never or Now in 2007 through Concept Records. She is a graduate of the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts stage school.

Lisa Scott-Lee
Lisa Scott-Lee performs during the Steps Ultimate Tour in 2012.
Background information
Born (1975-11-05) 5 November 1975
St Asaph, Denbighshire, Wales
GenresPop, dance-pop
Occupation(s)Singer-songwriter, dancer
InstrumentsVocals
Years active1997–present
LabelsJive, Concept Records, Sony, Steps Recordings, Warner Music
Associated actsSteps, 3SL, Andy Scott-Lee, Hear'Say
Websitelisascottlee.com

History

1997–present: Steps career

Scott-Lee is a member of the UK pop group Steps. The group, which came together in 1997 and had 14 top 5 singles in the UK, split up on Boxing Day 2001 before reforming in May 2011.

Ever since the group's break-up, rumours had been circulating that they would reunite in one form or another. In 2009, Lee Latchford-Evans revealed that the group had been approached to perform a series of concerts. He hinted that a future reunion was possible, but that "it isn't the right time right now".[2]

In early 2011, rumours began circulating that Steps would reunite for a TV series and a one-off concert to mark the tenth anniversary of their 2001 split. Despite the claims being reported by various news stations and newspapers, the reunion was denied by band's members, including Claire Richards on her Twitter page. Richards also announced on 9 July 2011 that a Steps reunion would be "silly", but she would "never say never".[3] However, contrary to these claims, just 12 days later, it was announced that Steps would be reuniting for a four-part Sky Living documentary, depicting their split and the intermittent years. They would also release their The Ultimate Collection, as well as potential new material.[4] In a new promo for the show, entitled Steps Reunion, each member revealed their true feelings, with "H" sharing that he regrets the way it all ended, but insisting, "If I were to revisit it and turn the clock back, I would probably have done it exactly the same way." Evans has commented: "They took something away from three people that we loved and we didn't get a choice because certain people took that choice away from us and I think that is very unfair." Steps Reunion premiered on Sky Living on 28 September.

Steps said in a 2011 interview with Digital Spy that they believe there is a gap in the market for their brand of "happy pop". Scott-Lee said "Times have changed, but we are in a recession and Steps' music was very light-hearted and fun, so there could be a place for that in today's society," "What else is interesting is that there aren't any boy/girl pop groups out there at the moment, so there's definitely a gap there."[5]

Steps released their The Ultimate Collection on 10 October, which became the Steps third number one album. The announcement of a nationwide arena tour was later confirmed for 2012 followed with a possibility of a new studio album.

Due to the huge success of the Steps reformation, Scott-Lee was to re-release her debut album Never Or Now on 5 December 2011 with a revised track listing of 15 tracks, but it was announced over Scott-Lee's Facebook account that the re-release was cancelled due to her not knowing anything about the release. She did however express interest in releasing it once Steps were touring in 2012.

2017: Tears on the Dancefloor

The group officially confirmed on 1 January 2017, that they were ending their five-year break following their reunion tour and Christmas album. Their first appearance was at London's G-A-Y nightclub, where the group confirmed the reunion.

The group's fifth studio album, Tears on the Dancefloor, was released on 21 April 2017 and entered the charts at number 2.[6] On 5 March 2017, the group confirmed the release of the new album, alongside its lead single, "Scared of the Dark", and a 22-date tour, Party on the Dancefloor.[7] A deluxe edition of the album, titled Tears on the Dancefloor: Crying at the Disco, was released on 27 October.[8]

In November 2017, Faye Tozer confirmed that the reunion was no longer just a 20th anniversary celebration and that the group intends to continue after their 2018 Summer of Steps tour.[9]

2002–04: Early solo projects and career'

Scott-Lee spent a short time managing her three younger brothers, including Andy, in a group of their own called 3SL. After little success they were dropped from their label and split up.

Scott-Lee decided she would go solo and was signed to Mercury Records. She released in April 2003 with her debut single, "Lately", which she co-wrote. The single was released on 12 May 2003 and peaked in the singles chart at number 6.

On 8 September 2003, Scott-Lee released her second single (which she also co-wrote), "Too Far Gone", which entered the charts at number 11.

Mercury parted company with Scott-Lee when they feared her success might be limited. She was left without a record company. As a result, her album, Unleashed, was cancelled, although promotional samplers had already been released.

Scott-Lee went on to be featured in the Girls of FHM music video for "Do You Think I'm Sexy?" in the summer of 2004, all the while preparing to release a new single.

The single, "Get It On", was a collaboration between Intenso Project and Scott-Lee. At the time the song was created they had yet to score a record deal for the song and were forced to self-fund the video. Eventually Ministry of Sound picked the song up and it was released on 28 November 2004. Despite numerous personal appearances, various promotional events, and a B-list placing on Capital Radio, the song's highest place on the charts was at number 23. The "Get It On" music video was ranked in the FHM top 100 sexiest music videos. She performed on Saturday night takeaway on 11 March to publicise her comeback tour.

2005–08: Totally Scott-Lee, reality TV shows and quitting music

In the summer of 2005, it was revealed that a camera crew from MTV had been following Scott-Lee for nearly a year, tracking her life, and those of her husband (Johnny Shentall of Hear'Say), her brother (Andy Scott-Lee), former publicist (Sean Borg), 80s pop singer turned music manager (Nathan Moore), and her brother's girlfriend Michelle Heaton (of Liberty X). The show was to be the UK version of Newlyweds: Nick and Jessica.

As time passed more information was revealed. The show, titled Totally Scott-Lee, originally Scott-Lee Unlimited, was to follow Scott-Lee on her effort to put her career back on track. The challenge of the show was that she had to score a top ten hit with her next single, or she would be forced to quit the music industry.[10]

Scott-Lee was signed to a small record label, Concept Records, and began recording songs for her next single. Concept chose "Electric" and starting making plans for its release. The single had to be released on 10 October 2005 to meet with deadlines for the MTV show.

Roseann McBride, assistant to managing director Max Bloom of Concept Records has gone on record (on the show and in private) several times saying that she was against the record being released on this date.[11] One of the main reasons for this was that it would have very little promotion time (5 weeks as opposed to the usual 8–10 weeks). The song was released and, despite a television show backing her, it failed to reach the top ten, as "Electric" charted at number 13.

Following the end result, Lisa said in the show that she deeply regretted agreeing to quit the music business. She said that she only went along with it to please other people, and that she wished she had "never said it". The final episode focused on her reaction, and the reactions of the people around her, as she came to terms with the end of her career.

Following the failure of "Electric" to achieve its targeted top 10 position (by only around 500 or so, after selling well over 8000), plans were announced to release "Electric" in Japan, Australia, Germany and South Africa.

In Australia, "Electric" spent two weeks in the Top 100, but failed to chart in the Top 40. She went to South Africa and Germany to promote the single, but did not go to Australia. Despite the failure to chart, the album will be released in Australia.[12] Scott-Lee released "Boy on the Dancefloor", a song from her unreleased album, on her website as a Christmas gift to her fans in 2005. The MP3 download came with a note which read: "Merry Xmas from Lisa and all of the LSL team, we hope you love this free Xmas gift and have a great time singing and dancing along."

On 1 October 2006, it was announced that Scott-Lee would "film a great new TV show for mainstream TV" on her official website. It later emerged that the TV show in question was the second series of ITV's Dancing On Ice, although this was not officially confirmed until late December 2006. Her participation in Dancing On Ice began on 20 January 2007. On 24 February 2007, she lost in the dance off on the Dancing on Ice TV show finishing in 6th place. Scott-Lee's association with Dancing On Ice continued between March and May 2007, when she took part in Dancing on Ice: The Tour which toured across the UK.

Scott-Lee won three Naomi Awards in 2006: Worst British Female Solo Artist, Worst Pop Act and Worst British Single ("Electric"). In April 2006, it was announced that her first full-length solo album would be called Never Or Now, and that the UK version would be different from the international version. It's not known which countries have decided to release Never Or Now.[12] In May 2006 Lisa Scott-Lee and Nathan Moore parted ways. Scott-Lee also parted ways with her Australian management, Williamson Management. On 28 November 2006, release dates were announced for Never Or Now around the world. The UK digital release date was supposed to be 26 March, presumably to capitalise on her success in Dancing On Ice. However, following her defeat in the sixth episode, the debut album was delayed again.[13]

Scott-Lee's first solo album Never Or Now was released in South Africa by Sheer Music on 26 March 2007.

Never Or Now was released in the UK as a music download on 18 June 2007. A CD version was also released in Belgium and the Netherlands. On 16 July, the album had an import release and was confirmed by Play.com and Amazon.co.uk. Scott-Lee appeared in the 2007 Christmas special of the Ricky Gervais comedy Extras. She appeared in the Derby pantomime as 'Jack's wife' alongside her husband Johnny Shentall who played 'A Beanstalk' in 2007–08.

In September 2008, Scott-Lee was a contestant on ITV2's flight attendant-based reality series CelebAir alongside husband Johnny. On 2 October 2008. the pair were eliminated from the show in the fifth week, after abandoning their cabin crew duties to party for two hours at Eden in Ibiza.

Discography
Main article: Steps discography

Tours

Personal life

Scott-Lee became engaged to former Steps dancer and Hear'Say singer, Johnny Shentall in April 2001 and they married on 14 August 2004. She gave birth to a boy on 23 February 2008, Jaden Anthony Shentall-Lee.[14] On 24 September 2009 she gave birth to a girl, Star Lily Shentall-Lee.

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gollark: They have a really tricky job and are fairly good at it.
gollark: Very well, yes.

References
  1. "Steps Biography: Lisa". Zomba Records. 2015. Archived from the original on 6 April 2003. Retrieved 19 February 2015.
  2. Ball, David (1 April 2009). "Steps 'eyeing future reunion tour'". Digital Spy. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  3. RTÉ (9 July 2011). "No Steps reunion on the cards for Richards". RTÉ. Archived from the original on 11 July 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  4. Eames, Tom (21 July 2011). "Steps to reunited for Sky Living documentary series". Digital Spy. Archived from the original on 6 October 2011. Retrieved 21 July 2011.
  5. "Steps talk reunion and chart success: 'There's definitely a gap for us' – Music News". Digital Spy. 20 September 2011. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
  6. Wass, Mike (2 March 2017). "Steps' Comeback LP Is Tears On The Dancefloor". Idolator. United States: Hive Media. Archived from the original on 2 March 2017. Retrieved 3 March 2017.
  7. Read-Dominguez, Jennifer (6 March 2017). "Steps CONFIRM comeback with new album announcement". Digital Spy. United Kingdom: Hearst Corporation. Archived from the original on 6 March 2017. Retrieved 6 March 2017.
  8. "Tears On the Dancefloor (Crying At the Disco Deluxe Edition) by Steps". Music.apple.com. Retrieved 1 July 2020.
  9. "Steps Tickets | Concert Dates & Tour". The Ticket Factory.
  10. Lisascottlee.com Official page for Totally Scott-Lee. Accessed: 3 September 2006 Archived 23 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  11. Generationsteps.co.uk Episode 4 of Totally Scott-Lee. Accessed: 3 September 2006
  12. Lisascottlee.com Official forum message. Posted: 21 April 2006. Accessed: 3 September 2006 Archived 20 June 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  13. "Lisa Scott-Lee the official site". Lisascottlee.com. Retrieved 29 March 2012.
  14. Sarah (25 March 2008). "Lisa Scott-Lee and Johnny Shentall welcome son Jayden". Celebrity Baby Blog. Archived from the original on 21 April 2008. Retrieved 24 July 2008.
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