# Paul Cattermole
**Paul Cattermole** (born 1977, died 6 April 2023) was an English pop singer, best known as a founding member of the chart-topping band [S Club](https://www.edgepedia.org/s-club) 7 from its formation in 1998 until his departure in 2002[1](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/09/paul-cattermole-obituary). He was found dead at his home in Swanage, Dorset, on 6 April 2023, weeks before a planned reunion tour; a coroner later ruled that he died of natural causes[1](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/09/paul-cattermole-obituary) • [2](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/may/18/paul-cattermole-s-club-7-star-died-of-natural-causes-aged-46).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name and dates | Paul Gerald Cattermole, born 1977 in St Albans, Hertfordshire; died 6 April 2023 aged 46[1](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/09/paul-cattermole-obituary) |
| Main group | S Club 7, 1998 to 2002, a seven-piece pop act created by Simon Fuller[1](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/09/paul-cattermole-obituary) |
| Chart record with S Club 7 | 11 UK Top 5 singles, four UK No 1 singles, and a US Top 10 hit with "Never Had a Dream Come True"[1](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/09/paul-cattermole-obituary) |
| BRIT awards with the group | Best British breakthrough act in 2000; Best British Single in 2002 for "Don't Stop Movin'"[1](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/09/paul-cattermole-obituary) |
| Departure | Left in March 2002, ostensibly to pursue his nu-metal band Skua; his last appearance was at the Queen's Golden Jubilee concert in June 2002, after which the band was renamed S Club[1](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/09/paul-cattermole-obituary) • [3](https://news.sky.com/story/s-club-7s-paul-cattermole-dies-aged-46-12851988) |
| Later activity | S Club 3 from 2008, the 2015 reunion tour, and the announced 25th-anniversary tour of 2023[4](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/07/paul-cattermole-singer-with-s-club-7-dies-aged-46) • [1](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/09/paul-cattermole-obituary) |
| Cause of death | Natural causes, per the Dorset coroner; no inquest was held[2](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/may/18/paul-cattermole-s-club-7-star-died-of-natural-causes-aged-46) |
## S Club 7 and the group's success
S Club 7 were assembled by the manager [Simon Fuller](https://www.edgepedia.org/simon-fuller), who had previously managed the [Spice Girls](https://www.edgepedia.org/spice-girls) and said the concept came to him the day after the Spice Girls sacked him in November 1997[1](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/09/paul-cattermole-obituary). The group drew more than 10,000 applicants the following year, and Cattermole was among those invited to audition[1](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/09/paul-cattermole-obituary). He described his own path in plainer terms: scouted at his musical theater school while his first rock band was playing small shows, and "I was asked to audition for the band and I got in"[5](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/07/paul-cattermole-s-club-7-wild-card).
The seven members were initially cast to star in the television series *Miami 7*, which aired on CBBC from April to July 1999 and was later broadcast in the US as *S Club 7 in Miami*; follow-up series included *LA7* and *S Club 7 Go Wild!*[1](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/09/paul-cattermole-obituary). The show's theme song, "Bring It All Back", reached No 1 in the UK[6](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/sep/10/s-club-7-paul-cattermole-interview). Between 1998 and 2002 the group scored four UK No 1 singles, hits in Europe, Australasia and the US, and four albums[6](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/sep/10/s-club-7-paul-cattermole-interview). Their debut album *S Club* reached No 2, *7* (2000) reached No 1, and *Sunshine* (2001) went to No 3; the first three albums all achieved multi-platinum sales, while sales fell for *Seeing Double*, which did not feature Cattermole[1](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/09/paul-cattermole-obituary).
Within the group, [Jo O'Meara](https://www.edgepedia.org/jo-omeara) and [Bradley McIntosh](https://www.edgepedia.org/bradley-mcintosh) handled the majority of the vocals, and Cattermole's assigned role, as he described it, was to be "enthusiastic"; he said he was never asked to show his singing or dancing in the audition process and, once in the group, never had to sing[5](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/07/paul-cattermole-s-club-7-wild-card) • [6](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/sep/10/s-club-7-paul-cattermole-interview).
## Leaving the band and later career
**Departure in 2002.** Cattermole announced in March 2002 that he was leaving S Club 7, saying publicly that he wanted to experiment with different music as a solo artist[7](https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/paul-cattermole-reach-rachel-stevens-queen-spice-girls-b1072973.html). His obituary attributes the departure to a tension between the band and management over musical direction[1](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/09/paul-cattermole-obituary). He rejoined Skua, the heavy metal band he had formed before S Club, but the group split in 2003 after failing to sign a record deal[1](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/09/paul-cattermole-obituary) • [8](https://www.itv.com/news/2023-04-07/s-club-7s-paul-cattermole-dies-aged-46).
His pop profile made it difficult for him to be taken seriously as a rocker, and his financial situation later became precarious. In 2008 he joined former bandmates Jo O'Meara and Bradley McIntosh to perform as S Club 3[4](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/07/paul-cattermole-singer-with-s-club-7-dies-aged-46). He rejoined S Club 7 for a BBC Children in Need performance in 2014 and the Bring It All Back 2015 arena tour[1](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/09/paul-cattermole-obituary). In 2018 he auctioned his BRIT awards on eBay, saying on the *Loose Women* show that he owed about £30,000 in taxes and that his share of the 2015 tour had gone toward paying off his debts[6](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/sep/10/s-club-7-paul-cattermole-interview). He also toured in the Rocky Horror Show as Eddie in 2015 before a back injury forced him to withdraw, and later worked as an online tarot reader[1](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/09/paul-cattermole-obituary).
## Money and the band's business structure
In a 2019 interview Cattermole said that Fuller, not the seven members, was the party signed to the Polydor record label as S Club 7, while he and the others were "affiliates", which he called "the worst situation to be in"[6](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/sep/10/s-club-7-paul-cattermole-interview). He said he could not afford a £100 bottle of wine while in "one of the world's biggest pop groups", and that the members received "a pittance" for the Hasbro dolls made in their likenesses[6](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/sep/10/s-club-7-paul-cattermole-interview). His obituary notes the same contractual arrangement as a reason the group's commercial success, including more than 10 million records sold worldwide, did not translate into wealth for the members[1](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/09/paul-cattermole-obituary).
## Training and early life
Cattermole was born in [St Albans](https://www.edgepedia.org/st-albans), Hertfordshire, the son of Liz and Gerald[1](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/09/paul-cattermole-obituary). He attended the National Youth Music Theatre, where his contemporaries included the actor [Sheridan Smith](https://www.edgepedia.org/sheridan-smith) and his future bandmate and romantic partner [Hannah Spearritt](https://www.edgepedia.org/hannah-spearritt); he appeared with Spearritt in the NYMT's production *Pendragon*, which toured New York, the Far East and Edinburgh, and then trained at Mountview Theatre School in south London[1](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/09/paul-cattermole-obituary). As a teenager he played in a rock covers band and hoped to work as a character actor[6](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/sep/10/s-club-7-paul-cattermole-interview).
## Relationship with Hannah Spearritt
Cattermole and Spearritt were in a relationship during the group's early-2000s heyday and rekindled it briefly around 2015; she described him after his death as her "first true love"[9](https://news.sky.com/story/paul-cattermole-s-club-7-singers-cause-of-death-revealed-12883501). In 2019 Cattermole said the five-year relationship had been written into the group's *Hollywood 7* television series, and that "because of that, it sort of happened"; contemporary reports had described it as a secret romance[6](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/sep/10/s-club-7-paul-cattermole-interview).
## Death and the 2023 reunion
Cattermole was found at his home in Swanage on Thursday 6 April 2023 and pronounced dead later that afternoon; police said there were no suspicious circumstances[2](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/may/18/paul-cattermole-s-club-7-star-died-of-natural-causes-aged-46). On 18 May 2023 the Dorset Coroner's Office confirmed that he died of natural causes and that no inquest would be held[2](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/may/18/paul-cattermole-s-club-7-star-died-of-natural-causes-aged-46) • [9](https://news.sky.com/story/paul-cattermole-s-club-7-singers-cause-of-death-revealed-12883501).
The death came weeks after the group announced an 11-date 25th-anniversary reunion tour of the UK and Ireland for October 2023[3](https://news.sky.com/story/s-club-7s-paul-cattermole-dies-aged-46-12851988). The band, retitled S Club, went ahead with the tour without Cattermole and without Hannah Spearritt, who had dropped out after his death[9](https://news.sky.com/story/paul-cattermole-s-club-7-singers-cause-of-death-revealed-12883501). The group asked fans to donate to the National Youth Music Theatre in lieu of flowers[9](https://news.sky.com/story/paul-cattermole-s-club-7-singers-cause-of-death-revealed-12883501).
## References
1. [Paul Cattermole obituary, The Guardian, 9 April 2023](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/09/paul-cattermole-obituary)
2. [Coroner rules Paul Cattermole, late S Club 7 star, died of natural causes, The Guardian, 18 May 2023](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/may/18/paul-cattermole-s-club-7-star-died-of-natural-causes-aged-46)
3. [S Club 7's Paul Cattermole dies 'unexpectedly' aged 46, Sky News, 7 April 2023](https://news.sky.com/story/s-club-7s-paul-cattermole-dies-aged-46-12851988)
4. [Paul Cattermole, singer with S Club 7, dies aged 46, The Guardian, 7 April 2023](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/07/paul-cattermole-singer-with-s-club-7-dies-aged-46)
5. [Paul Cattermole was the endearing wild card in S Club 7's peppy pop pack, The Guardian, 7 April 2023](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2023/apr/07/paul-cattermole-s-club-7-wild-card)
6. [Paul Cattermole: 'I've been answering S Club 7 questions for 20 years', The Guardian, 10 September 2019](https://www.theguardian.com/music/2019/sep/10/s-club-7-paul-cattermole-interview)
7. [Paul Cattermole: Singer enjoyed huge success with S Club 7 before going solo, Evening Standard, 7 April 2023](https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/paul-cattermole-reach-rachel-stevens-queen-spice-girls-b1072973.html)
8. [S Club 7's Paul Cattermole dies, aged 46, ITV News, 7 April 2023](https://www.itv.com/news/2023-04-07/s-club-7s-paul-cattermole-dies-aged-46)
9. [Paul Cattermole: S Club 7 singer died from natural causes, coroner says, Sky News, 18 May 2023](https://news.sky.com/story/paul-cattermole-s-club-7-singers-cause-of-death-revealed-12883501)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Music › Musicians and ensembles › Individual musical biographies › Pop and R&B singer-songwriters › Pop singers, 2000s to present*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 12, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license