#1
Posted: 8/17/10 at 10:50am
Twenty years after topping the charts with Bros, Matt Goss has been re-inventing himself away from the gaze of the British public on the Las Vegas Strip.
The singer, now 41, moved to the US 10 years ago and began rebuilding his career in front of “a new audience who had no preconceptions” of his boy band days.
Now billed as the “new Frank Sinatra”, Goss is to make a return to his home city with a date at the Royal Albert Hall.
His one-man show has proved such a hit in Las Vegas that he has just signed a new three-year contract that will keep him singing at the same casino where Sammy Davis Jr and Dean Martin performed in their prime. The LA Times called his hugely successful show at Caesar's Palace “the hottest act in Vegas”.
He said: “It's the show that knows how to party. There have been a lot of comparisons to the Rat Pack — which blows my mind. People dress up: the girls in cocktail dresses and the guys in tuxedos. It's just on the right side of civilised.” Goss performs Rat Pack era songs, his own material and some quirky covers, including a ska version of Hotel California, backed by four dancers “with a little bit of edge” called the Dirty Virgins.
It is a long way from his pop days with Bros — with brother Luke, now an actor, and Craig Logan, now a record executive — who had six top-five singles between 1987 and 1991.
Goss said he had to leave the UK to escape his boy band image. He added: “I love my country and I'm a proud Londoner but I think people had a big issue with me in the UK with the whole Bros thing. And I get it, I'm okay with it. But my life is so different now from just being an ex-Bros singer.
“I still look back on those days and love the experience. We needed police escorts, helicopters followed us around. It was an outrageous moment. It's one of those periods where I can't be anything but proud. It will never leave my bloodstream.”
He will play a one-off show at the Royal Albert Hall on October 19, and insists he is returning to Britain “more settled”.
He added: “This show that I do, you have to have gone through a certain amount of crap to articulate these feelings and relate to the audience.
“I would love to re-ignite people who bought the Bros records or saw us at Wembley and show them what I can now do.”
In an age where reunions are all the rage, he says the prospect of a reunion is fading with each member pulling in different directions.
He said: “The way I feel is that I personally would love to reunite with my brother, and if Craig was cool, then great.
“But Luke is making movies now and Craig is running a record company. It's becoming less and less important when I'm getting to connect with audiences every week in Vegas. It's becoming less and less desirable.”
Tickets for the Royal Albert Hall go on sale on Friday at www.livenation.co.uk
The singer, now 41, moved to the US 10 years ago and began rebuilding his career in front of “a new audience who had no preconceptions” of his boy band days.
Now billed as the “new Frank Sinatra”, Goss is to make a return to his home city with a date at the Royal Albert Hall.
His one-man show has proved such a hit in Las Vegas that he has just signed a new three-year contract that will keep him singing at the same casino where Sammy Davis Jr and Dean Martin performed in their prime. The LA Times called his hugely successful show at Caesar's Palace “the hottest act in Vegas”.
He said: “It's the show that knows how to party. There have been a lot of comparisons to the Rat Pack — which blows my mind. People dress up: the girls in cocktail dresses and the guys in tuxedos. It's just on the right side of civilised.” Goss performs Rat Pack era songs, his own material and some quirky covers, including a ska version of Hotel California, backed by four dancers “with a little bit of edge” called the Dirty Virgins.
It is a long way from his pop days with Bros — with brother Luke, now an actor, and Craig Logan, now a record executive — who had six top-five singles between 1987 and 1991.
Goss said he had to leave the UK to escape his boy band image. He added: “I love my country and I'm a proud Londoner but I think people had a big issue with me in the UK with the whole Bros thing. And I get it, I'm okay with it. But my life is so different now from just being an ex-Bros singer.
“I still look back on those days and love the experience. We needed police escorts, helicopters followed us around. It was an outrageous moment. It's one of those periods where I can't be anything but proud. It will never leave my bloodstream.”
He will play a one-off show at the Royal Albert Hall on October 19, and insists he is returning to Britain “more settled”.
He added: “This show that I do, you have to have gone through a certain amount of crap to articulate these feelings and relate to the audience.
“I would love to re-ignite people who bought the Bros records or saw us at Wembley and show them what I can now do.”
In an age where reunions are all the rage, he says the prospect of a reunion is fading with each member pulling in different directions.
He said: “The way I feel is that I personally would love to reunite with my brother, and if Craig was cool, then great.
“But Luke is making movies now and Craig is running a record company. It's becoming less and less important when I'm getting to connect with audiences every week in Vegas. It's becoming less and less desirable.”
Tickets for the Royal Albert Hall go on sale on Friday at www.livenation.co.uk
Updated On: 8/17/10 at 10:50 AM
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