Steve Bronski, gay community icon – Hudba – PRAVDA.sk

Steve Bronski, real name Steven William Forrest, co-founder of the famous synth-pop trio Bronski Beat, died at the age of 61. The band got together in 1983, when its members Bronski (keyboards and percussion), Larry Steinbachek (keyboards and percussion) and Jimmy Somerville (vocals) shared an apartment.

Steve Bronski in 1996.

Radical political

A year later, they signed a recording contract with London Records, which was a great success, given that they had played only nine concerts so far. Their debut single Smalltown Boy was also their most successful. The song talks about a teenager who is gay and decides to leave his hometown, family and friends. All three members of the band were openly homosexual. Smalltown Boy reached the top of the British charts, and he also did well in Belgium, the Netherlands and Australia.

However, interest in activism was not a one-time affair in the Bronski Beat. In their work, the members of the trio were radically political and were not afraid to talk about things that were even more or less taboo at the time. In the song Why? for example, they addressed the issue of prejudice against gays. At the end of 1984, they released an album called The Age of Consent, which included a list of the age of consent to homosexual intercourse in various countries.

In 1985, Bronski Beat and musician Marc Almond recorded a cover version of the song I Feel Love by Donny Summer, which was a great success in Britain and, like Smalltown Boy, reached number three on the charts.

That same year, Somerville left the band and was replaced by John Foster, with whom they recorded Truthdare Doubledare. Foster left the band in 1987, two years later Jonathan Hellyer became the lead singer. During his time at Bronski Beat, they recorded the hit Cha Cha Heels. The group operated until 1995.

New Bronski Beat

Steve Bronski has been involved in solo activities since 2007. He remixed the songs Stranger to None by the band All Living Fear and Flowers in The Morning by the electronic band Electrobronze.

In 2016, the Bronski Beat were reunited with Bronski, Stephen Granville and Ian Donaldson. Larry Steinbachek died the same year. The following year, the trio released a revised version of Age of Consent with a revised Age of Reason.

Steve Bronski died on December 9, 2021. Jimmy Somerville, the last living member of the original Bronski Beat, commented on his death on Twitter: “I’m sad to hear that Steve Bronski has died. He was a talented and very melodic man. Working with him on songs, and on that one song that changed our lives and touched so many other lives, was fun and exciting. Thanks for the melody, Steve. “