Steve Ellis

Stephen John Ellis was born on 7 April 1950 in Edgware, Middlesex, and grew up in Finchley, north London. He was the second of four children. His father came from the East End, worked as a shipping clerk for Lloyd's and served as RAF ground crew during the Second World War, and his grandfather served in the horse artillery at the Somme. The family shared a house in Finchley with his grandfather.

Ellis was drawn to rhythm and blues and soul from an early age. His mother saved Green Shield stamps to buy him Ray Charles albums, and seeing James Brown at the Walthamstow Granada convinced him a singer had to give everything on stage. He worked part time at the Co-op and later began an apprenticeship on a building site.

Ellis was still at school when his first band began playing London clubs. He recalled being told by the Flamingo's manager to claim he was 19, and getting home at 4am before going to school the next day. Details of the schools he attended have not been made public.

Ellis sang first with the Clifton Bystanders and then, at 15, fronted the Soul Survivors, who played the Marquee, the Flamingo and Tiles and mod and soul clubs around the country. Renamed Love Affair, they released "She Smiled Sweetly" on Decca before signing to CBS.

"Everlasting Love", produced by Mike Smith and arranged by Keith Mansfield with Ellis as the only band member on the record, reached number one on the UK chart in February 1968. Love Affair followed it with top 20 hits "Rainbow Valley", "A Day Without Love", "One Road" and "Bringing On Back the Good Times".

Ellis left Love Affair at the end of 1969 and stayed with CBS as a solo artist, singing the soundtrack for the 1970 film Loot. In 1972 he formed Ellis with keyboardist Zoot Money, releasing Riding on the Crest of a Slump (1972) and Why Not? (1973). In 1976 he fronted Widowmaker with Ariel Bender, recording one album for Jet Records before leaving the band.

After a serious accident at Shoreham Docks in the early 1980s and years of recovery, he returned in the early 1990s, touring as Steve Ellis' Love Affair. He performed with New Amen Corner in 2013, released the albums The Best of Days, Ten Commitments and Boom! Bang! Twang! (2018, co-produced by Paul Weller), and the career box set Finchley Boy (2022). He kept touring on the sixties nostalgia circuit into his seventies.

Ellis lived in Brighton for around 40 years. He was married to Val; in December 2021 he told the Daily Express he had been happily married for 48 years and had three grown up children. He restored Japanese samurai swords and followed football on Match of the Day. Interviewers noted the motto "March or die" tattooed on his arm.

A lifelong mod and self described soul boy, Ellis rejected the progressive rock direction his Love Affair bandmates wanted. He was openly critical of autotuned pop and reality television fame, saying that his generation "had to work for fame". He called performing live "the best job in the world".

"Everlasting Love" remains one of the best loved British number ones of the 1960s, played at weddings and funerals and covered by many artists. Kenneth Branagh's 2021 film Belfast used the original recording. Ellis was regarded by Paul Weller, Roger Daltrey and the mod revival generation as one of the great British blue eyed soul voices, and his rock band Widowmaker's "El Doomo" was covered by the Yugoslav band Smak in 1976.

Ellis's principal recognition came from the charts: a UK number one with "Everlasting Love" in 1968 and four further top 20 hits with Love Affair. No formal awards or state honours have been documented.

Key recordings include "Everlasting Love", "Rainbow Valley", "A Day Without Love", "One Road" and "Bringing On Back the Good Times" with Love Affair; the Loot soundtrack (1970); Ellis albums Riding on the Crest of a Slump (1972) and Why Not? (1973); Widowmaker (1976); and the solo albums The Best of Days, Ten Commitments and Boom! Bang! Twang! (2018). The box set Finchley Boy (2022) gathered his career. Widowmaker appeared on the BBC's Old Grey Whistle Test.

In late 1967 Love Affair were arrested after a publicity stunt in which they climbed the statue of Eros at Piccadilly Circus; Ellis had to be rescued by the fire brigade and each member was fined 12 pounds. After the hit, Jonathan King publicly revealed that session musicians rather than the band played on Love Affair's A sides with Ellis, causing a press row. Ellis said it was common practice at the time.

Steve Ellis died on 30 October 2026, aged 76. His death was announced on Facebook on 31 October by his longtime friend David Courtney, who was in contact with Ellis's wife Val, and reported on 1 November by The Strange Brew. His official website had earlier noted he had withdrawn from a sixties tour because of an ongoing health issue. The place and cause of death have not been made public.