GimmeFive
THERE’S only one true star left in Five Star.
Denise Pearson, 49, is the only sibling left in the 80s group, who will play ScotFest in July.
And while the family dubbed Britain’s answer to The Jackson Five are scattered to the winds, Denise is hopeful her brothers and sisters will one day reunite.
She said: “I’m carrying the torch right now and keeping the music alive.
“We had six top 10 hits in the 80s. Why forget the catalogue when the other four members are taking it easy for a little while?”
Denise says her siblings – Stedman, Lorraine, Doris and Delroy – are “OK with it”.
Their replacements are cousin Duane Pearson, family friend Marqus Rommel, Kerry Boyne – who performed with Denise when she was on The Jacksons’ Unity tour in 2013 – and dancer Erica De Silva.
For Denise, it’s about keeping the Five Star name out there. As well as ScotFest, there are plans for an autumn tour with the new line-up, and Luxury: The Definitive Anthology 1984-1991 will be released in June.
The group, from Essex, began performing in 1983 and had a string of hits including Rain or Shine, System Addict, Can’t Wait Another Minute and The Slightest Touch.
But the hits dried up and they were declared bankrupt before splitting in 1994. The last time the five performed together was in 2012 – a few months before the death of their dad Buster, who had steered the group.
Lead singer Denise, Stedman and Lorraine tried again in the early Noughties but now it’s just Denise.
She said: “I’m sure we’ll all get back together one day. There’s no way it won’t happen. With all my might I want it to happen but the others are resisting.
“Del has three kids and lives in America, Lorraine is in Dubai and Doris has resigned from the band for the moment, as has Sted. “We are all enjoying our independence and have our own families and children. We’re in separate places in the world but when we come together, it’s as a family. We will always be a family.”
Denise knows all about second chances. In 2012, she tried out on The Voice UK and if she hadn’t been picked, it would have been hugely embarrassing for someone with a string of hits.
Thankfully, Sir Tom Jones turned round, although Denise wasn’t chosen for the live finals.
She said: “My friends were saying I shouldn’t be a contestant, I should be a coach. But unless you were around in the 80s, you might not know Five Star. It’s been 30 years since our heyday.
“It was a risk but I saw it as a stepping stone to reintroduce myself back into public eye. And I had fun.”
It led to her supporting The Jacksons on their Unity tour and her first solo album, Imprint, in 2014. It also allowed a return to the 80s revival stages for Five Star to keep the group her dad created going.
Buster had been a recording artist, session musician and record label boss who had worked with Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett and Jimmy Cliff.
His plan for his kids worked and Five Star became one of the biggest groups of the 80s.
Their second album, Silk & Steel, reached No1 in 1986, making them the first black British group to top the UK charts. They also did well in America, reaching No2 in the R&B charts with Let Me Be The One.
The group splashed the cash, buying a mansion in Berkshire and Lamborghinis and Ferraris. But in 1990, they moved to America and didn’t even release their sixth album, Shine, in Britain.
Denise married a mechanic and has a son, Karan, 24, who is a DJ, and daughter, Hassa Alexis, 23, a budding songwriter. She is now divorced and returned from the US in 2005.
Denise is determined to keep Buster’s dream alive.
She said: “He was amazing. He guided us and set a standard to be one of a kind. And I think we were.”
Scotfest is on July 6 and 7 at the Royal Highland Centre, Ingliston, near Edinburgh. The line-up includes The Jacksons, Les McKeown’s Bay City Rollers and Boyzone. Tickets from scotfestuk.ticketline.co.uk