Stephen Desmond Brookstein[1] (born 10 November 1968) is an English singer, who is best known for winning the first series of The X Factor in 2004.[2]
Early and personal life
Brookstein was born in Dulwich, London, England, the son of Malle, a council worker, and Errol Brookstein, a lorry driver.[3][4] His father is South African and his mother is of Estonian descent. In 1997, seven years before his breakthrough on The X Factor, Brookstein was a finalist on the ITV series The Big Big Talent Show, hosted by Jonathan Ross.[5]
Career
2004–2005: The X Factor and Heart and Soul
In early 2004, Brookstein auditioned for the first series of The X Factor, a talent series aiming to discover new recording artists in the UK. His audition failed to impress two of the judges, Sharon Osbourne and Louis Walsh, who thought he lacked the motivation and confidence to succeed but the third, Simon Cowell, asked Brookstein to return the following day and sing again. At the second audition, Brookstein managed to impress the other judges and was put through to the next stage of the competition. He reached the live shows, where contestants are put to the public vote, as one of three contestants in the Over 25s category mentored by Cowell. He reached the grand final on 11 December 2004 alongside G4 and won, despite him mixing up words and lines in his winner's song and a controversial outburst against him from Osbourne.[2] However, according to Osbourne's subsequent autobiography, he had gained the most votes in every single one of the live shows. For five years, he held the record for the largest number of votes ever received in the final - 6 million, but this is now held by series 6 winner Joe McElderry, who received over 6.1 million votes.[6]
After winning The X Factor, Brookstein was signed to the Sony BMG record label through which he released his first single, a cover of Phil Collins' 1984 power ballad "Against All Odds", on 20 December 2004. The song debuted on the UK Singles Chart at number two and then climbed to number one on 2 January 2005,[7] going one better than Collins' original and staying there for one week. In Ireland, the song peaked at number 11. The music video for the song was a montage of clips from his time on The X Factor, from his initial audition to his final performance after being declared the winner.
Brookstein released his debut album Heart and Soul on 9 May 2005 through Sony BMG. Although Brookstein continued to perform tracks from the album on television shows such as CD:UK, a second single failed to materialise. In August 2005, it was announced that Sony BMG had dropped him from their line-up only eight months after his X Factor victory and despite the success of his debut single and album. Brookstein maintains that the decision to drop him reportedly came after he was offered a second album and to come back on the show, which he declined as it was to be another album of covers and he preferred a mix of old and new.[8] In August 2005, eight months after being dropped from his record label,[9] Brookstein publicly attacked The X Factor, claiming the show was "one big theatre... turning music into the WWE" and that it was "killing music".[10] Brookstein has publicly feuded with Simon Cowell and The X Factor, claiming "there is absolutely no way he would want me within 100 miles of him"[11] and admitting spending years feeling bitter about the way he was treated on the show.[12]
Although Brookstein enjoyed fleeting success with both his debut album and single both reaching number one – "Heart and Soul" and "Against All Odds" respectively – he was dropped by Cowell's management after the latter was accused of refusing Brookstein creative freedom.[13]
In December 2009, when a Facebook campaign was launched to stop The X Factor's winner from achieving the coveted Christmas number 1 spot, Brookstein backed the campaign to see Rage Against the Machine's "Killing in the Name" reach the top of the chart,[15] targeting Cowell in an online rant.[16] He further attacked Cowell, claiming the latter "ruined Christmas" and that he was dropped from his record label because he "wouldn't play the game".[17] Brookstein also claimed the show was staged and the winner was fixed, and was subsequently removed from the official The X Factor website following those comments.[18] Despite Brookstein's bitterness towards The X Factor, he signed up to critique the show weekly on London 24 in 2010,[19] where he labelled the judges "ridiculous" and questioned the standards of several of the finalists,[20] including One Direction band member Louis Tomlinson, and the vocal coach.[21]
2011–present: Musical hiatus and Forgotten Man
In 2013, Brookstein announced that his new album would be called Forgotten Man and would be released on 23 March 2014.[22]
Brookstein released a book on 21 November 2014,[23]Getting over the X,[24] that describes his journey from winning The X Factor to having the press and industry turn their backs on him.[25]
