Steve Ellis, the singer who found fame as the frontman of 60s pop-rockers Love Affair, has died aged 76.
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who → find → Affair
A message on social media announced that Ellis died “peacefully” on 30 October, after “complications from a chronic illness”.
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Ellis → announce → illness
With his stirring, heartfelt croon, Ellis gave voice to one of the most enduring hits of the 1960s: Everlasting Love, which topped the UK chart in 1968.
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which → give → 1968
Born in Edgware, north-west London, in 1950, Ellis formed the band Soul Survivors when he was 15 years old, inspired by Black US soul and R&B acts including James Brown who Ellis saw perform live: “He blew our socks off, he was phenomenal.
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he → bear → socks
I thought, that’s how a singer has to be, so I started doing gymnastics,” he told the Express in 2021.
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he → think → 2021
Soul Survivors morphed into Love Affair in the mid-1960s.
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Survivors → morph → mid-1960s
They were signed to Decca and their debut single, She Smiled Sweetly, was released almost concurrently with the original version by the Rolling Stones, and flopped.
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She → sign → Stones
But the follow-up Everlasting Love, another cover version, was a major hit – recorded by Ellis between shifts on a building site.
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up → record → site
Written by Buzz Cason and Mac Gayden and originally recorded by US singer Robert Knight, Ellis’s vocal was arguably more spirited, really selling the song’s pledge of eternal fealty: “Need you by my side, girl, to be my bride / You’ll never be denied everlasting love.”
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You → write → love
It spent two weeks at No 1 in the UK, and while other versions of the song would become more successful in the US – including Carl Carlton’s No 6 hit in 1974 – Love Affair’s version has endured as the most popular on streaming services, and a staple of wedding ceremonies.
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version → spend → ceremonies
Buoyed by bombastic symphonic backings, Love Affair would go on to have three more UK Top 10 hits in the next two years.
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Affair → buoy → years
Rainbow Valley repeated the Everlasting Love formula – a Cason-Gayden song first performed by Knight, anchored by an emotionally wracked Ellis performance – and spent 11 weeks in the Top 40, and it was followed by A Day Without Love and Bringing on Back the Good Times.
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it → repeat → Times
Ellis became disillusioned with Love Affair after their fame began to wane later in the decade: “The band wanted to go progressive rock and that wasn’t for me,” he later said.
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he → become → me
The main reason we broke up though was the screaming [fans].
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we → break → ?
We couldn’t hear what we were playing.”
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we → hear → what
In 1972 he formed the band Ellis – their debut album was produced by Roger Daltrey – and then Widowmaker, which also featured ex-Hawkwind member Huw Lloyd Langton and others, recording their self-titled debut in 1976 before they continued without him.
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they → form → him
He released solo album The Last Angry Man in 1977, followed by Basement Days in 1983.
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He → release → 1983
Ellis returned in 2008 with the album Best of Days, which reunited him with Daltrey who appeared on two tracks.
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who → return → tracks
That album also kickstarted an enduring collaboration with Paul Weller, who appeared on two tracks including a live acoustic version of Everlasting Love.
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who → kickstarte → Love
Ellis and Weller rejoined for 2018’s Boom! Bang! Twang!, with Weller co-writing two tracks and co-producing the album, followed by a one-off co-written song in 2022, Just to Simplify.
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Weller → rejoin → 2022
His most recent album is Baby Faced Assassin, released in September, featuring another three songs co-created with Weller.
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album → release → Weller
Weller was among those paying tribute, writing on Instagram: “God bless ya Stevie safe travels everlasting love for sure.”
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God → pay → ya
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