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Stedman Pearson, who has died aged 60 while undergoing dialysis treatment for diabetes, was the eldest of the five siblings who made up the British pop group Five Star. Frequently compared to the Jackson 5, both for their all-family lineup and the fact that they were managed by a controlling and overbearing father, Five Star emerged from Romford, east London, and became a pop phenomenon in the mid-1980s with a string of hit singles and albums.
The group was a project involving the entire Pearson family. Stedman was in effect Stedman Pearson Jr, since though his father was widely known as Buster Pearson, his actual first name was Stedman.
Buster acted as manager, and the original plan was to form a group with his three daughters, Denise (now known as Deniece), Doris and Lorraine. However, Buster’s wife, Delores (nee Ogeare), who would help with the group’s business affairs, urged him to include sons Stedman and Delroy to create a quintet. Denise, Lorraine and Delroy contributed to the songwriting, with Denise the most prolific writer, while Doris handled the choreography.
Stedman had briefly studied dance and fashion at college before he joined the group, and as well as singing and dancing, he had a hand in designing the group’s costumes. “Dad designed our first costumes and then, because he knew I liked designing, he said you’ve got the go-ahead, I’ll leave you in charge of designing,” he told Smash Hits. However, in a 2008 interview with the Guardian he backtracked somewhat, saying: “Seriously, I designed two costumes, the rest were designed by my father and my sisters.”
After releasing a couple of unsuccessful singles in 1984, Five Star reached the UK Top 20 in 1985 with All Fall Down and Let Me Be the One, both of which also enjoyed success on the US Dance and R&B charts, and breached the Top 30 with Love Take Over. One of their biggest hits, System Addict, reached No 3 in 1986.
It was a perky little slice of electro-pop that seemed to be a warning about the relentless march of digital technology – “I really need the human touch / But I’m too far gone”.
With their mix of slick production, synchronised dance routines, simple but catchy melodies and Denise’s smooth and accomplished lead vocals, the group continued to rack up big hits in the UK for the next two years, scoring their highest UK placing with Rain Or Shine (No 2 in 1986), and reaching the Top 10 with Find the Time, Stay Out of My Life and The Slightest Touch. They also notched up a No 1 album with Silk & Steel (1986), which was certified four times platinum in the UK and additionally reached the US Top 100. They achieved further platinum status with the albums Luxury of Life and Between the Lines (the latter a Top 10 hit).
In 1987 they sold out six nights at Wembley Arena on their UK tour, and won the Brit award for Best British Group, the first black group to do so.
But their appeal had peaked. Their last chart album (not counting posthumous compilations), Rock the World, reached only No 17 in 1988, the group’s efforts to create a tougher, black-leather-clad look having failed to arrest their commercial decline.
Stedman was born in Romford, which was then in Essex. His father, a professional musician and businessman, had moved to the UK from Jamaica, and toured as a guitarist with such luminaries as Otis Redding, Jimmy Cliff, Desmond Dekker and Wilson Pickett. He also launched several record labels, including the reggae imprint K&B Records and Tent Records, which would become the home of Five Star (with a licensing deal with RCA Records).
Stedman joined the family group when he was 19. Of that time, Denise said: “Like the Jacksons, our father kept control. When we became well known, we bought Stone Court [in Sunningdale, Berkshire], a mansion with dogs and security gates.” The group became renowned for their fleet of lavish automobiles, including Ferraris, Lamborghinis, and Stedman’s Mercedes.
By 1990, however, the group had to move out of Stone Court after incurring financial losses on their in-house recording studio, first relocating to Hatfield and then to the US. The same year, the group signed to Epic Records, but their records failed to sell and Epic dropped them in 1991. By 2001 the group had shrunk to a three-piece of Stedman, Denise and Lorraine, and they continued performing until 2006.
Though Stedman was a low-key member of the group, with the girls in the band taking a more high-profile role, his off-stage life had moments of drama. In 1990, he pleaded guilty to a charge of public indecency. In 2007, police investigated claims of a death threat against Stedman. Buster had allegedly told his oldest child that he had a gun and was planning to shoot him.
Stedman told the Guardian: “My father bankrupted all five of us … We lost the house, everything went back, including the cars … We could have fired my father as a manager and then we would have progressed.” Buster died in 2012.
After the band split, Stedman diversified, setting up limousine hire companies in Switzerland and California. He also trained as a builder – “I built houses, and I trained as a mechanic because I love cars” – and taught dance.
He made some minor forays into reality television, appearing on Channel 5’s All Star Talent Show, coming third in 2006 for his dancing skills, and in 2008 was a contestant on the BBC’s Celebrity Scissorhands, trying out hairdressing for Children in Need.
In 2013, Stedman attempted a musical comeback assisted by Lembit Opik, the former Liberal Democrat MP for Montgomeryshire. Of the singer, Opik said: “[He was] a hard worker, great performer and true gentle soul.”
