The frontman who sang Love Affair to the top of the British charts with a song the rest of the band never played a note on has died.
Steve Ellis, the singer on London group Love Affair’s version of “Everlasting Love,” died on the evening of Oct. 30, 2026, at 76. A statement posted on the singer’s official Facebook page said he died of complications from a chronic illness, “with his loved ones present.”
“Dear Friends, It’s with a heavy heart that we share the news of Steve’s passing,” the statement said. It invited fans to leave their thoughts, memories and condolences in the comments, and it closed with two words: “Everlasting Love.”
Songwriter David Courtney also announced the death on his own Facebook page, calling Ellis his “long time friend.”
A Borrowed Song From a Walthamstow Rehearsal
Love Affair found the song at a rehearsal session in Walthamstow, where the group played a copy of a record by the U.S. soul singer Robert Knight. “I loved it and so we set about putting it down on tape,” Ellis said of hearing it for the first time.
Buzz Cason and Mac Gayden wrote “Everlasting Love,” and Knight had the original hit with it, reaching No. 13 on the Billboard Hot 100 in America. Love Affair released their cover in 1967, and it went to No. 1 in the U.K. in January 1968, holding the top spot for two weeks. Ellis was 17 when he recorded the song.
The band’s own recording never charted in the United States. Carl Carlton’s disco remake of 1974 climbed to No. 6 there, seven places higher than Knight’s original. The song kept turning up on screen, in “Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason” and in Kenneth Branagh’s “Belfast,” sung by Jamie Dornan.
Only Ellis Sang on It
Muff Winwood produced Love Affair’s original version, and Island Records rejected it. Producer Mike Smith then re-recorded the track with Ellis and session musicians, citing time pressure.
Apart from Ellis, the band did not play on the released recording. The group admitted it when questioned on the talk show “Good Evening I’m Jonathan King.”
From the Soul Survivors to Widowmaker
Ellis was born in Edgware, northwest London. He sang as a teenager with The Clifton Bystanders and then with the Soul Survivors, the outfit that became Love Affair.
Love Affair, a pop and progressive rock band, came together in London in 1966. The lineup with Ellis took in drummer Maurice Bacon, bassist Mick Jackson, keyboardist Lynton Guest and guitarist Rex Brayley. Their first single, “She Smiled Sweetly,” arrived in 1967 with a songwriting credit to Rolling Stones writers Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, and it flopped.
Four more U.K. Top 20 hits followed “Everlasting Love,” among them “A Day Without Love,” “Rainbow Valley” and “Bringing On Back the Good Times,” all three Top 10, along with “One Road.” “Rainbow Valley” peaked at No. 5, “A Day Without Love” at No. 6 and “Bringing On Back the Good Times” at No. 9. Ellis walked away in December 1969 for a solo career.
He sang on the 1970 soundtrack for “Loot,” Silvio Narizzano’s film of the Joe Orton play. He joined the bands Widowmaker and Ellis and recorded on his own, forming Ellis in 1972 with keyboardist Zoot Money and others. That group released “Riding on the Crest of a Slump” in 1972 and “Why Not?” in 1973.
After walking away from fame to work as a docker, Ellis suffered a bad accident that broke both of his feet and, in his words, took him “out of the game for quite a while.” Love Affair reunited several times over the years, and Ellis led a reunion in 1991 and fronted the touring group Steve Ellis’ Love Affair through 1998. He also released a string of solo albums, among them “Best of Days” in 2008, with contributions from Roger Daltrey and Paul Weller, the guitarist, singer and songwriter who fronted The Jam, and “Baby Faced Assassin,” released in September 2026, with Weller working on three of its 11 tracks.
The Track He Was Still Recording
Weller was among the first to pay tribute. “Our dear mate Stevie Ellis passed on last week. God bless ya Stevie safe travels everlasting love for sure,” he wrote on Facebook.
Blues musician Norman Beaker said he recently played on a track for Ellis’ new album, one of his own compositions, “She Heals My Soul.” He remembered a friend with a formidable voice and legendary standing in the mod movement, and said he would be sadly missed.
BCM Entertainments Ltd, a Kent-based festival company, said Ellis had been a familiar and much-loved face at its events for years, bringing timeless songs and wonderful performances to its audiences. The company sent condolences to his family, friends, fellow musicians and everyone who worked with him, and thanked him for the music and the memories.
Boom Radio said it was sorry to learn of the death of the legendary Love Affair frontman, praised his voice and noted that he was 76. Heritage Chart Radio said it was deeply saddened and called Ellis one of the great voices of British music, adding that his talent, his passion and his contribution to the soundtrack of so many lives would never be forgotten.
