Rachel Stevens Biography

Rachel Lauren Stevens (born 9 April 1978) is an English singer and actress. Formerly with the pop group S Club 7, she has now launched a solo career.

Stevens was born in Southgate, London to a Jewish family; her now-estranged father, Michael Stevens, is notable for producing a guide to the best places to solicit prostitutes in London, and mother is Linda Stevens. She attended Ashmole School, Southgate, London.

At the age of 15, Rachel Stevens beat 5000 hopefuls to win a modelling competition arranged by Just 17 magazine.

Then, at the age of 20, Rachel accompanied her brother to an audition in London for a new pop group. Whilst waiting for her brother to audition, she was approached by the judges and was chosen for new band S Club 7 along with Tina Barrett, Paul Cattermole, Jon Lee, Bradley McIntosh, Jo O’Meara and Hannah Spearritt. S Club 7 lasted for four years and split in 2003 (see S Club 7 for more information).

After S Club 7 split up, Rachel Stevens landed a £1.5 million solo four-album deal with Polydor Records and Simon Fuller who also managed S Club 7. Her first single, the Cathy Dennis written (who has also written for Britney Spears, Spice Girls, and Kylie Minogue) and Bloodshy & Avant produced “Sweet Dreams My LA Ex” was released September 2003. The track reached #2 in the charts held off by the Black Eyed Peas’ international hit “Where Is the Love?” The single’s success was matched across Europe and was played numerous times accross radio stations in America. Rachel’s debut album Funky Dory was released later in the month.

That December, the album’s title track was released as the second single. The David Bowie sampling “Funky Dory” was sophisticated and sexy just like “Sweet Dreams My LA Ex” and hopes were high that it could match it’s success. This failed to materialize at “Funky Dory” debuted at #26 and quickly fell off the charts.

In July 2004, Rachel released a brand new single “Some Girls.” Produced by Richard X, the single became a huge hit across Europe, and reached #2 in UK official singles chart. Profits from the single went to the BBC Sports Relief charity. On the back of this success, Funky Dory was re-released to include “Some Girls” and another new track, a cover of Andrea True Connection’s “More, More More” which reached the #3 in the charts. By November 2004, Rachel was nominated for seven awards along with fellow pop star Britney Spears in the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party. She took home two awards Most Fanciable Female and Best Dressed Star.

On September 8 and 9, 2004, Rachel made seven public apperances lasting 15 minutes giving her the Guinness World Record for most public appearances by a pop artist in 24 hours. Her record was published in the 2006 edition of the Guiness Book of World Records.

In early 2005, Rachel started working on her second album with such producers and writers as Richard X, Alexis Strum and Xenomania. In March, “Negotiate with Love” was released and reached #10 in the single chart. This was followed in July by “So Good” which charted at #10 as well. “So Good” did manage to garner more attention than her previous single however, when the British pop website, Popjustice highlighted the gloves worn by Rachel in the song’s video on their front page. A forum discussing the gloves soon followed and the gloves gained a cult-like following that was laughed about in reviews and interviews. In October came “I Said Never Again (But Here We Are)” which featured in the soundtrack to Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo. The single however peaked at a disappointing #12 and was followed by her second album Come and Get It. Although the album received an incredible amount of critical acclaim and praise for a pop album, it only reached #28 in the UK albums chart and sold only 60,000 copies in Britain in its first four months.

Rumored future releases from Come and Get It included the Richard X written and produced “Crazy Boys” and the Alexis Strum written, Xenomania produced “Nothing Good About This Goodbye.” These rumors were fueled in part by the writers themselves claiming at some point that their contributions would be released. It now seems that no future singles will be released from Come and Get It.

Although 2005 did not bring the commercial success of earlier years, Rachel made headlines when she followed in the footsteps of fellow British popstar Robbie Williams to front the Everyman testicular cancer awareness campaign. Rachel’s role was notable as she was the first woman to front the campaign. Her television commercial raised eyebrows with its suggestive content that included her telling men to “put one hand down their trousers” and give their testicles a “good feel.” Of the commercial, Rachel commented, “Sometimes men need a little encouragement to think about their health. This is a funny way of raising awareness about a serious subject.”

Rachel has been called by the agents of Doctor Who to star in the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood. Rachel auditioned for a role in Doctor Who but lost to Billie Piper. She wasn’t upset and even said “Billie is great; there will be many opportunities for me to come.” Rachel also stated that she would really want the part in Torchwood as she is being attacked by her music. Nothing regarding Torchwood has been confirmed yet.

Rachel Stevens has been approved to start working on her third album to be released in 2006. Brand new tracks are already being written and recorded and the album’s leading single will reportedly be released in the Spring. Rachel’s has been dropped by Polydor Records but will continue to release under 19 Management’s label.

On Valentines Day 2001, Stevens became engaged to actor Jeremy Edwards. They split up in early 2004 after 3 years together. Six months later Stevens started dating Gavin Dein, son of Arsenal vice-chairman David Dein. They split up in late August 2005. She is currently single, but, as of late November, seemingly may have her eye on Arsenal midfielder and Calvin Klein underwear model Freddie Ljungberg, whom she is hoping will star in her new video as her boyfriend, but says she would like that in real life, too. Stevens said to Neil Sean’s Sky Showbiz Gossip, “It’s all top secret but my dream is to have the lovely Freddie in the video for the song as my boyfriend. I’d like that in real life too, but I’ll start with the video.”