Full name: Richard Neville Dobson.
Nickname: Ritchie.
Born: 23 August 1979, Solihull/Birmingham, England.
Parents: Kim Round & Peter Dobson (div), Derek Dolphine (step-dad).
Sister: Tracey (nephew-Robert).
Brother: David.
Starsign: Leo.
Height:
5ft 9inches (1.80 meters).
Eyes color: Blue.
Hair color: Brown.
Chest size: 40/42.
Shoe size: 9.
Musical relatives:
Both my mum and dad were singers although they never made it.
Singing since: I came out of my mother's womb singing!
Previous jobs: Worked in a burger van and in my mum's pub.
Worst job: Never had a job I didn't enjoy.
Worst haircut: Can't remember.
Worst habit: Biting my nails.
Most embarrassing moment: When we did our recording session in Sweden and I was a little worse for wear after a night out Bleughhh!
Hobbies: Females, music, clubbing, acting and reading.
Dislikes: Big headed people, heights and spiders.
Brevious bands: A band called Anal Beard!
Music: Life wouldn't be the same without it, in fact, life wouldn't be life without it!
Money: The way the world is, you need it and it's nice to have, but I would rather be happy and poor than rich and unhappy.
Fame: Something I have always wanted.
Women: I'll never be able to work them out, but I love them!
Maddest thing ever done for love: I borrowed £300 off my mum and took my girlfriend at the time to a five star hotel, bought her flowers, chocolates and treated her to a slap-up candlelit meal. Her face was a picture!
Childhood hero: Eddie Vedder, lead singer with Pearl Jam.
Most like to meet: Sean Connery.
Biggest extravagance: A night in a five-star hotel, Valentine's Day 1996.
Favourite record of all time: Pearl Jam 'Jeremy'.
Favourite hang-out: My brother's flat because I don't have to wash up there.
Favourite accessory: My jewellery, all bought by family, so of very sentimental value.
Favourite fashion: I'm not a victim, but I like nice clothes.
Favourite color: Blue.
Favourite sport: Rugby and football and any chance to get my kit off!
Favourite book: The Adventures of Adrian Mole.
Favourite drink: Coke, tea with 2 sugars, champagne.
Favourite food: Chinese, breast of chicken in KFC and chocolate.
Favourite take-away: Chinese.
Favourite place: Cape Town and South Africa.
Favourite music: Rock and Pop.
Dream car: Ferrari in yellow!
One thing I'd change about myself: I'm too impatient.
Describe yourself: Very soft, open and emotional
While traveling: He daydreams, reads, does puzzle books, sleeps.
Mobile phone bill: Too obscene to print.
Instrument: Guitar.
General info: Lives in a big house in North London. Also has a beach house in Dorset. Has a sports car and motorcycle. His Mom Kim has sold her pub and plans on being Rich's personal assistant/manager. Ritchie was raised as a Catholic. Has a dog named Dylan.
RICHARD NEVILLE DOBSON was born in the large industrial city of Birmingham to Kim and Peter Dobson. His parents divorced when he was 2 and it was hard for everyone, but Rich found a good father-figure later in his step-dad Derek. Both his parents had been singers and an uncle was a member of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, so it was no surprise when Rich practically came out of the womb singing. He was in the church choir at 4 and would sing and act-out with his friends. His mom ran a pub and sacrificed to put Rich in an exclusive private school, Bromsgrove ...leading to the refined manners and dress that would later earn him the nickname 'Posh'. Rich was also a member of the Army Cadets (like ROTC). His dyslexia (a reading disorder) had been discovered early and he learned how to overcome it and become a passable student. At 16, Rich was accepted into The National Youth Theatre and had the lead in Romeo and Juliet...which he still quotes from to this day. Rich entered a 'grunge' period, identifying with the band Pearl Jam, singing with a local group called 'Anal Beard', and wearing the over-sized baggy clothes and hair to match. Finally, the lure of the stage brought him to London, and his life-changing and totally random audition for a 'pop band with a difference'
It was 1997 and Rich was 17 when he saw an ad in a national newspaper asking for young male singers to audition for a new group in the boy band-style but with "attitude and edge". He thought it could be a start in the music industry. At the auditions, Rich and four other unsuspecting individuals shone through and were picked to be the band. Later they would be known as Five. The rest is music history
FIVE started with a six-album deal with BMG/RCA (Arista in the USA). The lads were packed off to Sweden in May 1997 to cut their first album. As they recorded the first tracks and listened back to them, they realised they had a unique, hot and marketable sound, as did Simon Cowell, the A&R man who signed them. The album "Five" was released in June 1998, containing the hits Slam Dunk (#10), When The Lights Go Out" (#4) , "Got The Feelin'" (#3), "Everybody Get Up" (#2) and "Until The Time is Through" (#2). Their single "When The Lights Go Out" cracked the US charts, staying in the top ten for over 25 weeks! Their album went straight to number one on the UK charts. It eventually went multi-platinum around the world...FIVE had arrived!
1999 saw FIVE's popularity soaring around the world. Many awards and appearances only added to their packed schedule and hectic lives. The hits kept coming; "It's The Things You Do" (USA), "If Ya Gettin' Down" (#2) and then "Keep On Movin", their 1st UK Number One. The album "Invincible" was released in Oct 1999 in the UK. It was a supreme effort as the lads not only sang the songs, but co-wrote all of them... not usually done by most boy bands. The band won the Brit Award for Best Pop Act in 2000. Their performance at the Brits with the legendary rock group Queen was the talk of the industry and the song "We Will Rock You" became their next single & video and went straight to #1 in the UK... their second number one single in less than 9 months. It paved the way with their okay to like cooler blend of pop music. This was all while FIVE were rehearsing and then embarking on a jam-packed World Tour from March-May 2000.
They began work on their 3rd album, Kingsize and, in December 2000, launched their second big tour, playing at the largest arenas in the UK. In January 2001 the band played to its largest audience ever, 250,000 people at the world famous Rock In Rio festival in Brazil. A head-line appearance at MTV's Five Night Stand, and a huge concert in Israel capped off April & May 2001. Five then had to begin heavy promotion for the single Let's Dance, scheduling a full concert weekend at the end of August to kick off the August 27th release of "Kingsize". The single was released on August 13th and it debuted at number one in the UK.
In the background, however a string of individual personal issues, and being in an exploitive non-stop music industry for five years since their teens, was taking its toll on the band. They decided to end after deliberating hard over all the decisions to be made. On the 27th September 2001, FIVE made a surprise live appearance on MTV Select in London and announced they were 'calling it a day'. The lads had always said they would go out while they were still on top and they did just that, only two weeks after a number one single.
After all of this and aged just 21, Ritchie thought about getting his career on the go but felt that he was being pushed into areas of music that didnt feel right, {all singing, all dancing hit factories with no musical back-bone}, and after having five years of his life that was not really his own, he cut ties with his management company and Simon Cowell and went to re-discover himself. He hippyed out for a while. His travels took him to the summer solstice at Stonehenge, Ibiza three times in a year and many outdoor parties and raves etc. Ritchie says:
"Being in a band like Five was great but you were being constantly watched, 'life in a gold fish bowl' was our pet name for it, I just felt like I wanted to shed all the suppressed feelings I had accumulated over the years, I just wanted to dance, all the time, and not care whether people were watching or whether they had recognised me, or whether they were gonna call the papers and tell them what a state I was in, I transformed myself and regained my youth, I wanted to feel real again, it was the best feeling ever, man!"
In March 2003, Ritchie Neville was guest front man at The Blockheads concert in London and after more than a year of not being on stage, he turned a hostile crowd into a friendly one with his electric rock performance...
After a 'long holiday', a complete change of management, PR, musicians, writing partners and most importantly the opportunity to write and record the type of music he has always wanted to create, Ritchie Neville has returned. Pearl Jam, was the comparison made after Ritchies first solo live performance in two years on 24th November 2003 at Liverpool University. With his four-piece band, Ritchie Neville rocked and the students were shocked.
For the past twelve months Ritchie has been working on his sound. The ideas & the lyrics have been there, but its the sound that hes been trying to get right. His writing with producers Riff Raff helped nail the elusive monster, with new tracks like 'Let Me Out', 'Wasted' and 'Taste Me' reflecting the harder edge of Ritchie Neville, and the ballads 'Running For Miles' and 'Melody' demonstrating the strong lyrical and vocal ability that he has crafted. Other collaborators have included Go West's Richard Drummie, Phil Thornally, Kenny Thomas and Rick Wilde, but the bulk of the writing has been down to Ritchie. With the songwriting in hand, Ritchie has put together a band that equals the likes of the 'Red Hot Chili Peppers' or 'Smashing Pumpkins'.
Caz, Jon, Benny & Owen make up The Band. Young, like-minded musicians all with the ability to put on one hell of a performance. This is the band that Ritchie Neville has always wanted.
In February 2004 Ritchie embarked on a University Tour, culminating in a one-off London show. In between shows, Ritchie is recording new tracks with the band which they hope to release later in 2004. FIVE is no more there can be only one. That one is Ritchie Neville
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