Watch as Claire Richards tells Chris Evans that Steps were ‘bigger than the Beatles’ in the nineties
CLAIRE Richards has declared Steps was “bigger than The Beatles” during their nineties heyday.
The iconic pop singer, who starred the band alongside Lisa Scott-Lee, Faye Tozer, Ian ‘H’ Watkins and Lee Latchford-Evans, joined Chris Evans today on his Virgin Radio Show.
Arriving into the studio to cheers from the team, Claire spoke about her upcoming Everybody Dance solo tour, and reflected on life with the band, that has been going past 27 years.
“5,6,7,8 it hovered around between 10 and 20 for weeks and weeks, 14 was the highest it got in the charts. It was the biggest selling single of that week not to make the top 10,” she explained.
“I’d say it was One For Sorrow when people started to take [for us].”
Admitting the band really took off after the release of their second album, Steptacular, Claire said they became even bigger in Japan and Australia.
“Pete Waterman used to say we were like The Beatles in Belgium, we kept Celine Dion off number one!” she said.
The comment is ironically similar to something John Lennon once said about The Beatles, getting in trouble for declaring them “more popular than Jesus”.
Lennon made the comment within the context of discussing the longevity and importance of religion in popular culture, but still risked the wrath of anti-Christian groups.
Elsewhere in the chat, Claire told Chris the group were now on a rest.
This comes after a whirlwind five years including number one albums and world tours.
However, a musical based on their songs is set for release at the end of the year.
Claire teased info about the project, saying it wasn’t about the band but about “four friends who go on a summer of love”.
She also joked it was “very British” and will feature all of their greatest hits.
In the meantime, Claire will be heading on tour alone, performing hits from the sixties through to today in her Everybody Dance tour.