S Club 7’s Paul Cattermole Dead at 46

Jon Blistein
Updated ·3 min read
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S Club 7 Announce Reunion Tour - Credit: Dave J. Hogan/Getty Images
S Club 7 Announce Reunion Tour - Credit: Dave J. Hogan/Getty Images

Paul Cattermole, a member of the English pop group S Club 7, has died just months after the band announced a 25th anniversary reunion tour. He was 46.

“We are truly devastated by the passing of our brother Paul,” S Club 7 said in a statement. “There are no words to describe the deep sadness and loss we all feel. We were so lucky to have had him in our lives and are thankful for the amazing memories we have. He will be so deeply missed by each and every one of us. We ask that you respect the privacy of his family and of the band at this time.”

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Cattermole’s family issued a statement as well (per the BBC), saying the singer was found yesterday, April 6, at his home in Dorset and was “pronounced dead later that afternoon.” A cause of death is still unknown.

“Dorset Police has confirmed that there were no suspicious circumstances,” the family’s statement continued. “Paul’s family, friends and fellow members of S Club request privacy at this time.”

In May 2023, the Dorset Coroner’s Office announced that Cattermole “died from natural causes and our investigations have concluded.”

S Club 7 was formed in 1998, at the height of the Nineties pop boom, created by former Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller. During the group’s initial run, they released four albums — starting with 1999’s S Club and ending with 2002’s Seeing Double — though Cattermole was only involved in the first three, leaving the group in early 2002. S Club also starred in a variety of TV shows and movies, often playing fictionalized versions of themselves.

Though S Club 7 had just one Top 10 hit in the U.S. (“Never Had a Dream Come True”), they scored four Number Ones in the U.K. — their debut single “Bring It All Back,” “Never Had a Dream Come True,” “Don’t Stop Movin,” and “Have You Ever” — on top of several songs that peaked at Number Two (“S Club Party,” “Two In a Million,” “Reach”). S Club also won two Brit Awards, British Breakthrough Act in 2000 and British Single of the Year for “Don’t Stop Movin” in 2002.

While Cattermole was the first to leave the group, in 2008, he linked up with Bradley McIntosh and Jo O’Meara for a mini-reunion under the moniker S Club 3. (This side project has continued with various lineup changes over the years, sometimes known as S Club All Stars.)

In 2014, all of S Club 7 reunited for a U.K. charity special, while an arena tour followed in 2015. Back in February, S Club 7 announced a second reunion tour for their 25th anniversary. The trek is scheduled to kick off in Oct., though it’s unclear how, or if, S Club will proceed with the shows following Cattermole’s death.

Along with all his work in S Club 7, Cattermole fronted his own band Skua, which released a debut album, Kneel, in 2014. In 2015, he was part of a touring production of The Rocky Horror Show (an adaptation of The Rocky Horror Picture Show), though he suffered a bad back injury that made it difficult for him to find work in the years after. A few years later, staring down some financial difficulties, Cattermole garnered headlines when he auctioned off his Breakthrough Act Brit Award on eBay (it ultimately sold for £66,100).

UPDATE May 18: This story was updated with Cattermole’s cause of death.

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