13-03-2025
A fleet of Ferraris, turning children's TV blue and an engagement to Eddie Murphy: The story of Five Star
Fans of retro pop, and gigantic shoulder pads are in mourning today following the news that Stedman Pearson, the former member of British band Five Star, has died aged 60.
It caps off an extraordinary roller-coaster tale of ambition, bankruptcy, bust-ups and quintessentially 1980s excess for Romford's answer to the Jackson 5, who sold 15 million records before their spectacular downfall.
Pearson's sister Deniece confirmed that Stedman had died on March 10, adding: 'He was on dialysis, and he had diabetes.' In a statement, his family said that Pearson 'was a gentleman to the very end' and 'an amazing son/brother and uncle.' Tributes are pouring in from fans of the group, which consisted of Pearson and his younger siblings Lorraine, Deniece, Doris and Delroy.
Just like the world-conquering Jacksons, who were managed by their father Joe, Five Star was the brainchild of an ambitious dad: Buster Pearson. The Jamaican musician and businessman toured with singers such as Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding and Jimmy Cliff after moving to the UK, and started his own reggae label. But it was his children who would make his dreams of stardom and a big payday come true.
Buster passed on his love of music to his offspring. 'He used to wake us up to get out of bed and put on a reel-to-reel and play us what he'd written in the studio,' recalled Deniece in 2023. Doris, meanwhile, hoped that it would lead her to her idol, Michael Jackson, as she explained in 2019; 'I thought, I'll either be an air hostess so I can get to travel to America, or I'll be in the group. Either way, I'll definitely get to meet him.'
Initially, Buster was wary of his children forming a band while they were still at school. So the siblings rehearsed in secret and performed for their dad in their Essex living room – and he was convinced. Doris took on choreography duties, while the confident Deniece was the natural lead singer, and Stedman took charge of costumes.
Buster handled the business side. 'It was his master plan to launch Five Star on our own independent label [Tent], then license our music through a major record label [RCA Records] – and it worked,' said Deniece. He faithfully copied the Jackson 5 model, down to the synchronised dance movements, easy-listening pop harmonies, wholesome family image, and matching sequinned jumpsuits. The band's name is another obvious nod, although it set up comparisons that haunted them their entire career: they were the Aldi Jackson 5.
Five Star released their debut single, Problematic, in 1983 – bizarrely, it concerned the struggle to find work in Margaret Thatcher's Britain – when they were in their teens, with Stedman the eldest at 19. But it wasn't until 1985 that they troubled the UK charts, with All Fall Down reaching No. 15. In the video, 17-year-old Deniece still has braces on her teeth.
A lot of hard work followed. 'We'd be up at 2am, piled up with make-up getting in the back of our little white van, going into smoky little clubs', recalled Lorraine in 2018. When she was 14, a club-goer offered her a sachet of cocaine. 'My dad had said there were going to be drugs, and not to take anything off any strangers, so we just said 'No thank you.'' Lorraine added that they missed out on school trips and parties. 'We didn't have many friends.'
But the band steadily built a career, releasing their debut album, Luxury of Life, in 1985, and finally cracking the top 10 with single System Addict the following year: the song peaked at No. 3. It's an upbeat, genial blast of oh-so-80s funk, accompanied by a hilariously low-budget sci-fi video. 'We went to the costume store up in London and immediately went straight to that section,' remembered Deniece. 'You know, that vintage soldier kind of look. Got to the set, put all these colours in our hair, and just made it all kind of crazy and futuristic.' Actually, the track's message – about the dangers of technology addiction – make it oddly pertinent for 2025.
The band went on a promotional tour of America and might have become TV stars: Disney offered them a show. But Buster refused, preferring to focus on the music.
Five Star followed up their earworm hit with the Grammy-nominated First Avenue, top 10 tracks including Can't Wait Another Minute and Rain or Shine (which reached No. 2, held off the top spot by Madonna 's true blue), and No. 1 album Silk and Steel. In 1987 the band made history as the first black winners of the Best British Group Brit Award.
Five Star became almost as famous for their look as their music, thanks to gloriously over-the-top costumes designed by Stedman – in particular, the ridiculously massive shoulder pads. Legend has it that they were so huge, the band had to walk through corridors sideways. A chuckling Deniece denied that rumour in a 2023 interview but admitted, 'We were getting there!'.
Doris even fulfilled her dream of meeting Michael Jackson. She was flown out to Sweden in 1988 for his Bad tour – but, in a tongue-tied moment, all she could think to say to him was 'I thought you were taller.'
That same year, Lorraine struck up a whirlwind Hollywood romance with actor and comedian Eddie Murphy. She wrote him a fan letter, and he then flew to England to take her to dinner. 'Within five days, he was on one knee proposing,' she said. 'I was 21, and my heart was saying no, but I said yes. We went out to a restaurant to celebrate, and it was the worst night of my life.'
Lorraine had never even had a boyfriend before that. However, the engagement ended the same night it began.
But the Pearsons weren't so conservative when it came to spending. In classic rock 'n' roll fashion, the money flooded in – and then straight back out again. The family bought a plush mansion, Stone Court, in Sunningdale, Berkshire, adding security gates and a £2.5 million recording studio. They ran their fan club out of the gatekeeper's cottage.
They also splashed out on a fleet of Ferraris. 'My very first car was a Lamborghini,' said Deniece. 'I couldn't even drive!'
Inevitably, the band's popularity dipped. They adopted a new, edgier, leather-clad look and thumping dance sound, but to no avail. 'It was quite a shock,' said Doris. 'We were just there, doing our work, and all of a sudden things ground to a halt.'
The nadir came in 1989 when the group appeared on children's show Going Live. During a phone-in, a teenager who claimed his name was Eliot Fletcher asked his infamous, and devastating, question on live TV. 'I want to ask Five Star: why are they so f---ing crap?'
BBC reporter Mark Savage tracked down that critical caller in 2019. 'Fletcher' explained: 'I was a big fan of theirs. Then, all of a sudden, they were on TV showing off new Ferraris, and the music started going downhill. I felt they were selling out.'
In 1990, Stone Court was repossessed after the family went bankrupt: a pretty spectacular fall from grace and the end to their hopes of global domination.
Despite the veneer of family harmony, it seemed the band's interpersonal relationships were also a mess. 'Being together, living together, working together was hard, and it did cause a lot of arguments,' recalled Lorraine. 'It was constant: the record companies want to make money out of you whilst you're young.'
The band split in 1995, briefly reunited, then split again in 2001. They reformed as a trio – just Stedman, Deniece and Lorraine – the following year, but it was a far cry from their Brit Award-winning days, and the feuds only grew nastier. In 2012, they reunited as a fivesome before becoming a foursome with the departure of Lorraine.
In 2007, Stedman even alerted the police after allegedly receiving death threats from Buster. Stedman claimed that his father had told him he had a gun and was planning to shoot him. After Stedman's Hammersmith home was broken into, he was moved to a safe location.
The girls were at odds too. Appearing on Loose Women in 2018, Lorraine revealed that she hadn't spoken to Deniece in years, labelling her 'a diva.' She added: 'Deniece is my sister and I love her, but I don't like her very much.'
Stedman was fined for public indecency in 1991 after being arrested in a public toilet. However, he popped up on reality TV: on Channel 5's The All Star Talent Show in 2006 (finishing third thanks to his ballet skills), and BBC Three's hairdressing show Celebrity Scissorhands in 2008. He also appeared as a contestant on pop quiz Never Mind the Buzzcocks in 2014, in the identity parade round. Host Rhod Gilbert added insult to injury by asking Stedman – who had once worked as a bricklayer – for tips on his home renovation. Stedman, to his credit, was very game.
Meanwhile, Deniece appeared on the first season of The Voice UK, and continued the Michael Jackson connection by performing in West End tribute show Thriller Live.
The band attempted another reunion in 2020 for their 35 th anniversary. They made it as far as the studio, where there were 'tears of hurt, pain and frustration' and an eventual resolution, according to a message Doris posted on Instagram, but ultimately Deniece decided 'she was 100 per cent out of any future Five Star project,' announced Doris. 'I wasn't surprised. Just disappointed.'
Sadly, five have now become four. We still have the music, of course, plus those indelible memories of classic 80s maximalism: big hair, big shoulder pads, big spending, and big drama.
