Nicky Stevens

Nicky Stevens
File:Nicky Stevens.jpg Nicky Stevens in 1991
Background information
Birth name	Helen Thomas
Born	(1949-12-03) 3 December 1949 Carmarthen, Wales
Genres	Pop music
Occupation(s)	Singer
Instruments	Vocals, piano
Years active	1967–present
Labels	Pye, EMI, Dawn, Warwick

Nicky Stevens (born Helen Thomas in Carmarthen, Wales, 3 December 1949) is a singer, famous as a member of pop group Brotherhood of Man. She is the only Welsh person to have won the Eurovision Song Contest.

Early career

Nicky Stevens began singing at an early age. At the age of four she was singing in a chapel in Carmarthen, and following lessons eventually joined the Hywel Girls Choir. She also studied classical music as a singer and pianist. At the age of 16 she held a residency in Swansea's Townsman nightclub. During this period she also took on a job as a telephone operator. This lasted for nine months and is the only job she has ever had outside the entertainment business. She later toured the Continent as a singer, performing in night clubs. Following this she went on to tour South Africa as well as clubs around the UK. One of her early appointments was as a supporting act to Little and Large in 1970. Stevens worked mainly performing popular songs and found it a struggle at first to adapt her vocals from her classical roots.

Brotherhood of Man

In 1972, while working as a session singer, Stevens came to the attention of Tony Hiller, who was looking to recruit new members for his group Brotherhood of Man. Hiller was manager and songwriter for the group, but they had recently disbanded and keen to keep the name alive, which was still in demand for television work, he recruited Stevens alongside Martin Lee and Lee Sheriden. In 1973, signed to Deram Records, they released their first single, "Happy Ever After".

Later in the year another female singer was added to the group, Sandra Stevens and as a four-piece, Brotherhood of Man went on to enjoy great success around the world. Scoring their first hit in 1974 and first No.1 the year after, the group entered and won the 1976 Eurovision Song Contest with the song "Save Your Kisses for Me". To date, she is the only Welsh person to win Eurovision. For the next three years, the group regularly hit the chart and scored two more No.1 singles in the UK, "Angelo" and "Figaro".

In addition to singing, Stevens is an amateur pianist, and performed the piano accompaniment to an otherwise a cappella recording of "Send in the Clowns" in 1978, which was featured on the band's Twenty Greatest album.

In 1988, while still with the group, Stevens recorded some songs with Dutch singer Albert West. In the early 1990s she also recorded some songs with British rock band Aslan¹ as the lead singer.

Stevens still performs with Brotherhood of Man today in its original line-up, taking in UK tours and television appearances throughout Europe. In November 2013, Stevens was the subject of a documentary Time of Your Life on ITV Wales talking about her career and early life growing up in a musical environment in Camarthen.

Personal life

In June 1976 Stevens married the group's guitarist, Alan Johnson. They have since divorced. In the 1990s, Stevens lived in Sturminster Marshall, but as of 2011 lives in Corfe Mullen, both in Dorset. Since moving to Dorset, Stevens has begun appearing in Christmas pantomimes including Cinderella at Weymouth Pavilion in 2013 and Snow White and the Seven Dwarves at the Tivoli, Wimborne in 2014.

¹ Not to be confused with the Irish rock band of the same name.

References

Awards and achievements
Preceded by Teach-In with "Ding-A-Dong"	Winner of the Eurovision Song Contest 1976 (as par of Brotherhood of Man)	Succeeded by Marie Myriam with "L'oiseau et l'enfant"
Preceded by The Shadows with "Let Me Be the One"	UK in the Eurovision Song Contest 1976 (as par of Brotherhood of Man)	Succeeded by Lynsey de Paul and Mike Moran with "Rock Bottom"