Bronski Beat's Steve Bronski dies

Artist News By Andy Malt | Published on Friday 10 December 2021

Bronski Beat co-founder Steve Bronski has died. He was 61.

Paying tribute, former Bronski Beat vocalist Jimmy Somerville tweeted: “Sad to hear Steve Bronski has died. He was a talented and very melodic man. Working with him on songs – and the one song that changed our lives and touched so many other lives – was a fun and exciting time”.

Real name Steve Forrest, Bronski formed Bronski Beat in 1983 with Somerville and Larry Steinbachek (who died of cancer in 2016, aged 56). They quickly signed to London Records after playing only a handful of shows and in 1984 reached number three in the UK singles chart with their debut single, ‘Smalltown Boy’, about a gay teenager fleeing his hometown.

Follow-up ‘Why?’ also reached the top ten, and their debut album, ‘The Age Of Consent’, reached number four on the UK album chart.

Due to tensions within the group, Somerville left in 1985, but the outfit continued on until 1995 with various different vocalists.

Bronski continued to work on music under his own name and to produce other artists too, and in 2016 revived Bronski Beat – with himself the only original member – releasing a reworked version of ‘Age Of Consent’, titled ‘Age Of Reason’.