Matt Goss
Matthew Weston Goss (born September 29 1968) is a British singer and songwriter most famous for being the lead singer of 1980s pop group Bros, which also featured his twin brother Luke Goss as drummer and Craig Logan as bass player. Bros was first formed in 1984 and built up a small but loyal following around the clubs. In 1987 they landed a major record deal with CBS and issued their first single "I Owe You Nothing". It did little more than break the bottom end of the UK Top 100. The following year they issued the follow-up "When Will I Be Famous?". The second single also took off with a slow start, but after several TV and live appearances it began to sell better and was to be their first top ten hit, reaching a high of #2 in the UK. A third single, "Drop The Boy", also just missed the very top of the charts. It was the re-issue of their debut "I Owe You Nothing" that saw them score a #1 hit single that year, and their album Push reached #2 in the UK. That album went on to sell more than 5 million copies worldwide, and the group headlined the world’s most prestigious venues, including the Sydney Entertainment Centre, Tokyo's Budokan, The Royal Albert Hall, and ten consecutive nights at London's Wembley Arena, with the farewell performance at London's Wembley Stadium. They topped the charts in numerous countries, won many awards (including Brits and Smash Hits) and, at the end of 1988, scored a huge Christmas hit with a double-A-sided single featuring Cat Among The Pigeons from Push and their version of "Silent Night", which was only kept from being the season's #1 seller by Cliff Richard.
In 1989, Bros were back, minus Logan, with the single Too Much, another top 2 success; 11,000 fans crammed outside HMV Oxford Street in London for a record signing. It was followed by Chocolate Box and the album The Time, both of which clocked up time in the UK charts. Bros became the youngest group in history to sell out Wembley Stadium and were even being compared by some to The Beatles (just like the Bay City Rollers before them and The Spice Girls after them). However, Beatle-like success proved difficult to maintain. Bros' next single, "Madly in Love", just missed the top 10, peaking at #14.
After one more album, Changing Faces (UK No 18), which produced the international top 15 hit "Are You Mine", and (UK No 27) "Try", Bros called it quits. Their sales had cooled and Matt and Luke decided to go on to solo careers.
Life After Bros
Due to the high living the brothers enjoyed while they were in Bros and the incompetent management they had at the time, Luke and Matt Goss accumlated many debts by the time sales had cooled off. Luke Goss recalls that fans would still wait outside their home to see them, though this would only be half a dozen or so, rather than hundreds and hundreds each day as when their success was at its height.
While Luke remained in the UK, Matt moved to the United States after the split and released his solo album The Key (producing UK No 38 single "The Key" and No 23 "If You Were Here Tonight") four years later. After this he moved to Italy and teamed up with record producer Joe T. Vanelli to create a new group called "Co*Bra". They released a funk/dance album called One in 1997 and released two singles from that album. After a little while, Matt decided to return to live in Los Angeles.
Matt recorded a duet with his long-time friend Denise Pearson of Five Star: they recorded a song together called "This Pain" in 1997.
Afterwards Matt had a song included on the soundtrack for Stuart Little ("Lucky Day"). He also had a song on the album Sounds Of A Better World and played at Carnegie Hall in New York on New Year's Eve 1999. He also started writing songs for other music artists, and decided to make a large selection of brand new songs available on his website for his fans. The new album would be called Face The Wind. However, it was never officially released and sold in stores. Matt also wrote a new song, "Carolyn", dedicated to his sister, who had died at the height of his Bros days.
Chart Comeback
In the summer of 2003, Goss returned to the UK music scene.
He did a UK tour consisting of 13 different venues, and also played to his home crowd at the Shepherds Bush Empire in London without even having a recording contract or record label.
Goss then signed a deal with Concept Music. He was asked to be the special guest of Mariah Carey at her UK concerts. Following that, on 3 November 2003, Goss released his first single in the UK since 1996. It was called "I'm Coming With Ya" and reached number 22 in the UK charts. Goss also appeared on Top of The Pops.
He was then asked to appear on a new TV reality show called Hell's Kitchen, along with nine other celebrities. This show was watched by 8 million viewers every night for two weeks on ITV. Matt came third in the show.
On the back of the Hell's Kitchen show, Matt released a new album and a new single, "Fly", issued on 19 July 2004, which reached No 31 in the UK charts.
His much anticipated album, Early Side of Later, was released on 21 June 2004.
Sony music (who had since acquired CBS Records) also released a new CD called The Best Of Bros.
Dance duo Minimal Chic heard the title track of Goss' album The Key, and asked to re-release it. He re-recorded his vocals for them and on 20 September 2004, the single, now renamed "I Need The Key", was released. It reached No 58 in the UK Singles Charts.
March 2005 saw the release of Matt's autobiography, More Than You Know. He did a UK book signing tour to promote it. After the book signing tour, he returned to live in Los Angeles.
He also recorded another song with Minimal Chic, a version of U2's "With Or Without You".
He and model/television personality Daisy Fuentes are engaged to be married, and have been officially engaged since 2004. No wedding date has been set. Prior to that, he had been romantically involved with British TV personality Melanie Sykes for 5 years. He and Fuentes live with their two dogs, Alfie and Rita. In addition to his and Fuentes' home in Los Angeles, he maintains a residence in London, where most of his work is done.
Current
Matt is currently in the recording studio in LA, recording a new album being produced by Babyface.
In September Matt was invited to sing at a special charity concert in Canada for the David Foster Charity Gala. The charity raised $2.9 million.
Discography
Singles
- 1995 "The Key"
- 1996 "If You Were Here Tonight"
- 1996 "Heaven"
- 1997 "This Pain" with Denise Pearson
- 2003 "I'm Coming With Ya"
- 2004 "Fly"
- 2004 "I Need the Key - Minimal Chic"
- 2006 "It's the End of the Road"
Albums
- 1995 The Key
- 2004 Early Side of Later