Steps have No.1 downloaded album 20 years after they formed
90s group Steps have rounded off their return to pop with a top-selling album.
The group, comprised of Lee Latchford-Evans, Ian ‘H’ Watkins, Claire Richards, Lisa Scott-Lee and Faye Tozer, released a new album to celebrate their 20th anniversary.
Tears on the Dancefloor has shot to the top of the download chart, beating Ed Sheeran to being the most downloaded album this week.
It debuted at number two overall, with streams of Sheeran’s album, Divide, pipping the band to the top spot, according to the Official Charts Company.
“I think it’s really close, I’m not sure we can do it. And who could against Ed Sheeran?” Faye told PinkNews, ahead of the chart result.
“It’ll be like we’re number one,” Claire added, “and if it were just on sales we would be number one on Friday, but it’s because of this whole streaming thing which we still can’t get our head around.”
In the singles chart, Clean Bandit and Zara Larrson’sstunning LGBT themed song hit the number one spot.
Steps spoke to PinkNews this week, with H revealing his coming out story – that shocked Claire.
The gay star of the 90s pop group remained in the closet until 2007, ten years after the band hit the music scene.
H told PinkNews: “I hadn’t told my family, and I was still kind of discovering who I was.
“It wasn’t a massive secret with the guys for a long time.
“But because I hadnt told my family, who were very important, I chose to stay in the closet.”
Bandmate Faye told PinkNews: “We were told not to say about whether we had partners or not.
“I had a long term boyfriend at that time and we were encouraged not to talk about it because we were meant to look available.”
“Lots had boyfriends even and kept that secret,” H also revealed.
It turns out it wasn’t just family and fans H was in the closet to, though, with bandmates left unsure at first as well.
Claire told PinkNews she was left in the dark about H’s sexuality: “I didn’t know until you told me!”
The 39-year-old explained: “He said to me one day – when we went to Spain to do the 5, 6, 7, 8 video – ‘Claire I need to speak to you later’ and I was like oh no.
“I spent the whole night thinking, ‘Oh god he’s going to tell me he loves me!’
“Then he said ‘I’m gay’ and I was like, ‘Thank god for that!’”
H joked: “Well I was quite butch back then!”
80s pop band Bananarama also announced a reunion this week, saying George Michael’s sudden death had provoked them to return.
