Blue: 'Mental health wasn't a thing back then'

"For many '90s and noughties kids, the boyband Blue were part of growing up. Their hits featured in the soundtrack to school discos, people would flick through magazines for posters and debate who their favourite member was. After notching up three number one singles, three number one albums and two Brit awards, the band struggled to find the same charts success again and were dropped by their record label."

"In a year when nostalgia for their golden era is driving comebacks and bands including Five, Pulp and Oasis are back on the road, Blue members Simon Webbe, Duncan James, Antony Costa and Lee Ryan are preparing for one of their own. Their upcoming tour marks 25 years since the band first got together - so a quarter of a century later, what's changed?"

"It's a very different picture from their early music videos, with the band performing synchronised dance moves in dark rooms under bright lights, or striding through the streets in tank tops preaching the virtues of One Love. The singers agree growing up means priorities have changed. They are touring, says London's Antony Costa, not only because they love it, but also because "we've got to work to provide for our families and put food on the table"."

""We have a different mindset now from when we were doing it last time because we were just kids," says Duncan James. All four members are dads now. "My daughter's 20, she lives in Germany - she's a ballerina," says the Wiltshire-born singer. "My responsibilities are looking after her and, of course, my mum." For Duncan, their new single One Last Time and its themes of grief and being there for loved ones in hard times are personal."

Blue achieved multiple UK number-one singles and albums and won two Brit awards before losing chart momentum and being dropped by their record label. Nostalgia for late-1990s and early-2000s pop has driven comeback tours across genres, and Blue are preparing a 25th-anniversary tour. The four members now face changed priorities: all are fathers, they experience physical limits, and they approach performing with a different mindset than as teenagers. Touring provides both creative fulfillment and financial support for families. Their new single, One Last Time, explores grief and the importance of being there for loved ones.

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