EastEnders stars who have tried to make it and break it
It’s a time-honoured path – but the road from soap-star to pop-star doesn’t always run smooth. Inspired by the successes of Kylie Minogue and Jason Donovan, who outgrew Neighbours to forge successful careers in the music industry, generations of soap actors have tried to follow in their footsteps.
Check out five Eastenders stars who’ve dabbled in singing below:
Sid Owen – Good Thing Going
One of the more successful attempts at a music career from an Eastenders star has come from Sid Owen, who made it to #14 in the UK charts. Playing Ricky Butcher on the show, his longest stint came between 1988 and 2000, but he’s returned several times since then. His cover of the Sugar Minott single ‘Good Thing Going’ was a successful, if short lived, foray into the music industry, and it’s helped to make him the much-loved actor he is today. He’s on the books at MN2S talent agency London, so get in touch today if you need his help entertaining an audience of Eastenders fans.
Letitia Dean and Paul Medford – Something Outa Nothing
Playing on-screen members of ˜The Banned’ Sharon Watts and Kelvin Carpenter, Letitia and Paul attempted to capitalise on their musical storyline by releasing a single back in 1986. The BBC website describes it as a, ‘heavily sequenced proto-acid jazz monstrosity.’
Tom Watt – Subterranean Homesick Blues
Tom Watts’ character on the square was Lofty Holloway, a put-upon bartender with designs on the affections of young mum Michelle Fowler. Perhaps sensing that his character wouldn’t be a long-term fixture of Albert Square, he hedged his bets on a music career, releasing a cover of Bob Dylana’s Subterranean Homesick Blues. Despite a video which featured members of popular indie bands, the self-released record debuted at #67 in the UK music charts.
Peter Dean – Can’t Get a Ticket (For The World Cup)
Another time honoured tradition – novelty songs released to mark sporting occasions – dovetailed with the soap-star/pop-star trope in 1986, when Pete Beale actor Peter Dean released Can’t Get a Ticket (For The World Cup). England was knocked out in the quarter-finals of the competition and the song didn’t crack the Top 100.
Sophie Lawrence – Love’s Unkind
Playing Diane Butcher, sibling of the aforementioned Ricky, Sophie Lawrence left Eastenders to pursue a pop career under the guidance of Simon Cowell. Despite his expertise, her cover of Donna Summer’s Love’s Unkind didn’t break the Top 20, and she returned to the square without releasing any further material.
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