WHAT LIFE WAS REALLY LIKE IN A BOY BAND
heat investigates the highs and lows, from arguments to groupies FEATURE
During their reign, One Direction sold over 50million records worldwide, and each member is now said to be worth around £40million. Often compared to The Beatles, they have now each become huge stars in their own right. And
yet, Liam Payne recently called his time in the group “toxic”. The now-25 year old, who first auditioned for The X Factor when he was just 14, admitted he never once felt in control during his time in one of history’s most successful boy bands.
“It’s almost like putting a Disney costume on before you step up on stage. And underneath the Disney costume, I was pissed quite a lot of the time because there was no other way to get your head around what was going on,” Liam admitted. “We had an absolute blast, but there were certain parts of it where it just got a little bit toxic.”
One Direction were born out of a social media-obsessed generation, and it was with the help of Twitter, Youtube, and Instagram that these young lads became overnight sensations. But back in the late ’90s/early ’00s heyday of boy bands, things could be just as tough – even without a million camera phones and dedicated Twitter accounts documenting your every move. heat spoke to 5ive’s Scott Robinson, A1’s Mark Read, Damage’s Noel Simpson, and 911’s Jimmy Constable – who all found fame in hysteria inducing boy bands, and are set to tour together in 2020 – to uncover how crazy life could be.
Scott, now 39, was just 17 when he answered an advert in The Stage newspaper to be part of a new band being pitched as “The Spice Boys”. After beating thousands of hopefuls to become a member of 5ive, Scott tells us, “A week later, I’d moved out of my family home and I was living in a house in Surrey. I’d never really been away from home. I’d left my friends and all the people I cared about – it was horrible, and pretty messy. At one point, we didn’t wash our plates for so long that we just chucked them and bought new ones.”
Jimmy from 911, now 47, admits that he and bandmates Lee Brennan and Spike Dawbarn were still on the dole when they were touring schools, trying to drum up a fan base. “We had nothing but drive, and we wanted to make this band work.”
Eventually, 911 was signed to Virgin, and Jimmy and his bandmates had one goal in mind. “You kind of have an inkling that
‘I’d left my friends and all the people I cared about’
you want to be famous, and all the things that come with fame, but we were more excited about the fact that we would be able to get lots of women,” he revealed.
Of course, the groupies were a huge part of the boy band lifestyle. And while they may be reluctant to give us the finer details, the singers admit a lot of the rumours were true.
“We had our fair share of lovely ladies and being a bit naughty on the road,” Damage’s Noel, 43, tells us. “There were times over the years when we had to call our tour manager and say, ‘You have to get this chick out of the room,’ when I’d been put in the friend zone or just wanted to sleep!”
And most of the band members tell us that rules against having girlfriends either didn’t exist or simply didn’t work. “I don’t think we ever looked at the rule book, let’s put it that way,” Scott jokes. But A1’s Mark reveals that things were different for him.
“Our management kept us on a tight rein. We couldn’t say we had girlfriends – all the usual stuff,” says the 40 year old. “You had a band like 5ive, who were very much about the attitude. But their behaviour – though it wasn’t acceptable – it was, because it got headlines.
“But our management were careful to protect our image, even though we absolutely weren’t
angels behind the scenes. We were just normal guys doing what normal guys do. I couldn’t tell you half the stuff we got up to.” And yes, ladies, that does include hand-picking girls out of the audience to join the band backstage. But with the highs comes the lows. Whether it was waking up and not knowing which country they were in, or having just ten days off in three years, arguments were par for the course. “There were times we got along, but it’s well-documented that we clashed, too,” says Scott, describing 5ive’s many tour bus adventures as a “nightmare”. “That’s why you end up arguing with your bandmates, who you were good friends with at one point. Because you’re tired, you’re overworked, they’re all being morons, and you just want to go to sleep,” he adds.
All four bands eventually split due to members leaving, in-band fighting, and mental health issues. After 911 went their separate ways, Jimmy reveals, “I spent the next year-and-ahalf on a downwards spiral because I took it differently to the rest – drugs, alcohol, all of that stuff. People handle things differently. That’s the way it is.”
And Noel admits he had to sign on after Damage split. “Damage was my life,” he says. “I had to start again. It was two years of real struggle, but in a way, it was a blessing because it helped me find myself as a man.”
All four of the boy bands chose to reunite for ITV2’S The Big Reunion, and the groups are even coming back together for another tour in 2020. While most admit they were hesitant at first, they are all excited to be performing again. “The band that I’m in now doesn’t feel like the one it was before,” 5ive’s Scott explains. “We get on so well, we’re like brothers.”
And the man bands are planning on putting on a show. As Jimmy puts it, “As much as it kills us for the half-hour afterwards – we’re on oxygen tanks and everything – you’ve got to give [the fans] what they want.” n Buy tickets for The Boys Are Back 2020 tour via Ticketmaster.co.uk