Blue are always a handful to interview. Antony and Simon showed up almost on time, Duncan was in hospital and Lee lost in his car - luckily the reformed boyband made it to the Soho Hotel, to meet thelondonpaper
It’s great to have you back, but I hear Duncan’s had a hernia. Is he all right?
Simon: It’s something he has had on and off for three years. His attitude was “don’t worry about it, I’ll be all right”. Fingers crossed he will be all right.
Antony: The show will go on. According to Duncan, he’s got no choice, it’s happening. Even if he’s on crutches.
Are you happy to be back?
Lee: Yeah, man, I’m really enjoying it. It has been nice to have a break. I’ve had a child, and I hate to say it, found myself.
Antony: It’s like we’ve never been away from each other.
Simon: To be able to come back for a great event like the Summertime Ball is such an honour.
And you’re headlining too.
Antony: It’s amazing. When they told us, we couldn’t believe it. We’ve got people like Leona Lewis there, Lionel Richie, Katy Perry, The Saturdays. It’s gonna be massive.
Simon: It has been a struggle in rehearsals because of the laughs we’ve had since day one – cracking jokes, and trying to remember the moves.
Lee: The choreographers are gonna have a nightmare.
Who made the first call?
Antony: Lee called me and said: “Mate, we gotta meet at 1.30 on Thursday.” So we all met, had a chat and a drink and we got approached about the Capital gig. We looked at each other and were like: “You know what? It’s the right time, let’s do it.”
Lee: It wasn’t the fact we needed to do it, more like “why not?” We’re quite blessed to be in this industry. You can earn a lot of money for doing f*** all. It’s true. We all know what it’s like to really work – but this isn’t work.
Will you record again?
Simon: Yeah, but first Duncan’s got [West End musical] Legally Blonde for six months, I’ve got my third solo album coming up, Lee’s got his second solo album too.
Lee: Yeah, I’ve got a solo deal. I wrote a song with Ne-Yo which is beautiful – but I’m writing with Blue, too. Oh, and I’ve got a film coming out in July with Vinnie Jones, Sadie Frost and Stephen Rea called The Heavy.
Duncan once assured me Blue would never reform.
Simon: I always said: “Never say never”. As far as I was concerned, we still had a record deal, so we hadn’t split. We are signed up to do three more albums.
You were once the wildest band in pop, will you be able to live up to that reputation?
Antony: Those days are over. We’re all dads now.
Simon: Never say never.
Have you had a big piss-up together yet?
Lee: I don’t drink that much at the moment. I don’t like going to clubs, I prefer bars, I like The Groucho Club – how celebrity of me.
Simon: We went to Café de Paris for Duncan’s birthday in March, it was great – what I can remember of it.
Can you persuade Elton to join you on-stage for Sorry Seems To Be The Hardest Word?
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Simon: He’s got a charity gig himself, I think.
Antony: We’ve asked him.
Lee: I don’t really speak to Elton anymore .
Simon, you had the most successful solo recording career – why put that on hold?
Simon: I’ve always seen Blue as my backbone, it’s where I started. People ask if it means my solo career’s failing? But I don’t really care what people think.
Lee, as the main voice of Blue, were you disappointed with your solo career?
Lee: It could have done better. Sony BMG f***ed it up. I wanted to do a soul album and they wanted me to be indie. I was walked into the record label, they opened up Music Week and said: “Indie, indie, indie, indie – you’re gonna be indie.” And I said: “Don’t you see the gap for a soul artist, a George Michael?” I hated making the album. When I did interviews people would ask: “What’s the album about?” I’d say: “Go ask the record label. I haven’t got a f***ing clue.”
Did you ever have ego clashes like there were in Take That?
Lee: We never argued the whole time we were with each other, which was an achievement. Sure there was ego, but not with each other, I wouldn’t put up with it – I’d leave, I can’t stand arrogance.
Antony: There was nothing like that. If there was something to be said, we said it.
Simon: The advantage Blue had was Antony knew Lee when he was 14, and Antony knew Duncan and I met Lee and Duncan at an audition, so we were interlinked.
Blue play Capital FM’s Summertime Ball on 7 June and the Silverstone Classic Festival with the Pussycat Dolls on 24 July
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