Steve Ellis, the English singer whose group Love Affair knocked the Beatles off the top of the charts with their 1967 single, “Everlasting Love,” died last Friday, Oct. 30. He was 76.
Ellis’ death was confirmed on his Facebook page. An exact cause of death was not given, though the post mentioned “complications from a chronic illness,” adding that Ellis “peacefully left the world on the evening of October 30, 2026, in the presence of his loved ones.”
Love Affair formed in 1966, when Ellis was still a teenager, and enjoyed a swift string of hits, starting with “Everlasting Love.” Written by Buzz Carson and Marc Gayden, the song was first a hit for American singer Robert Knight, peaking at Number 13 on the Billboard Hot 100.
While Knight’s version was already a rich, uptempo soul gem, Love Affair managed to make the song even bigger. Speaking in 2015, Ellis recalled showing up to record the song and not finding his bandmates, but a 40-piece orchestra and a bunch of top session players. “Two takes, done. That was it,” Ellis said.
Love Affair’s rendition was released in December 1967. To gin up attention, the group’s PR person staged a stunt that involved the band climbing the statute of Eros in the middle of the Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain in London’s Piccadilly Circus. Ellis got stuck on top of the statue and had to be rescued by firemen. The band was arrested and fined, and by February 1968, “Everlasting Love” was Number One on the U.K. singles chart, bumping off the Beatles’ “Hello, Goodbye.”
Like many artists, Ellis developed a complicated relationship with his most famous song. He declined to perform it live for a while, but ultimately came around to giving the fans what they wanted.
“You can’t turn your back on your heritage; you cannot not do what people want,” he said. “It’s become one of those songs of its time, of its era. When we play it live, everybody goes mad. We usually finish up with it and maybe we go back on after. It used to be a bit of a curse and I thought, ‘You know what. I’m lucky, really.’ To have a record of that magnitude at 17 years old. It’s served me very well.”
Love Affair released three more Top 10 singles in the U.K., “Rainbow Valley,” “A Day Without Love,” and “Bringing on Back the Good Times.” Ellis left the group in 1970, and formed his own band, Ellis, with keyboard player Zoot Money. His next group, Widowmaker, enjoyed some modest success with their two late Seventies albums, but by the early Eighties Ellis was done with music, living in the South of England, and happily working on the docks. But a freak accident with a forklift destroyed his feet, leading to nearly a decade of operations and physical therapy.
Eventually, Ellis was strong enough and decided to return to music. He began playing live regularly and recorded several albums, including a 2015 record, The Best of Days, with Roger Daltrey and Paul Weller.
