Where are they now? Singer Eve Graham
Ever wondered what happened to the stars of yesteryear? We take a look at the life of one of The New Seekers singers
She was the lady who – with her bandmates – taught the world to sing and now at the age of 75, Eve Graham of the New Seekers is still recording music. Evelyn May Beatson was born in 1943 in Auchterarder, a little town north of the Ochil Hills in Perth, Scotland. But it wasn’t long until she had grown too big for her small-town roots as she began touring Scotland as a singer with the band the Cyclones and then with the Cyril Stapleton Band, based in London. Shortly after, she became founding member of The Nocturns, originally alongside Sandra Stevens (from the Brotherhood of Man) before she moved on in 1969 to be a founding part of The New Seekers for whom she was lead singer on most of their hits.
By the early Seventies,
Eve had hit international fame as The New Seekers were the clean-cut super group on everybody’s lips. Their song, I’d Like to Teach The World to Sing made it to No.1. It then hit stratospheric heights of success a second time when a re-worded version of the song was used in the Coca-Cola ad. Meanwhile, in 1972 they made it to second place in the Eurovision Song Contest with Beg, Steal or Borrow. “We always had top quality songs from the best writers such as Neil Sedaka and Neil Diamond,” Eve says. “We worked with other artists, too, like Liza Minelli, Dionne Warwick and Andy Williams which was fantastic. “We had a great following. When we were in Edinburgh for Eurovision, fans were thronging Princess Street and the riot squad had to be called! After the contest, we played a concert in Newcastle and our car was rocked by fans pushing against it, so guys had to be hired out to protect us.”
As well as fame, The New Seekers brought Eve love as she married Kevin Finn, a member of the band often known as ‘Danny’ who had replaced Peter Doyle in the band’s second incarnation in 1976. From 1978-1985, Eve and Kevin performed together, releasing two singles and touring with Gene Pitney and Max Boyce.
Over more recent years, a number of special projects have brought Eve out of retirement, including two new albums for the Scotdisc label in 2005 and 2006 and a tour of New Zealand in 2012. “It seems ridiculous to me that I’m still working at 75,” says Eve. “I remember turning 30 when I was in The New Seekers and thinking, ‘it’s time I packed this in – it’s not what a mature woman should be doing,’ she laughs.
For Eve, a big motivation is to keep busy following the tragic death of her beloved Kevin in 2016. She still lives in the beautiful cottage in Abernethy the couple shared with their Lhasa Apso dogs, who she says are like the children they sadly never had.