BRIT Eurovision star Martin Lee, whose band won the contest for the UK with an iconic track, has died aged 77.
Brotherhood of Man topped the contest in 1976 with the song Save Your Kisses For Me at the final in The Hague, in the Netherlands.
The song topped the table with 164 points, more than 70 points ahead of second-placed Switzerland.
Save Your Kisses For Me topped the UK singles chart in the same year, and was also number one in more than 30 different countries.
A statement from the band said: “It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of our great friend and colleague Brotherhood Of Man’s Martin Lee, who slipped peacefully away on the evening of Sunday, September 29, 2024, from heart failure after a short illness. Martin was 77.”
Tony Hiller, the group’s manager, put the song’s success down to their TV appearances across France, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland the year before the contest – and the record sold six million copies.
Lee was brought into the group as their main vocalist and guitarist in 1972 – along with Lee Sheriden, Sandra Stevens, and Nicky Stevens – by Hiller after their initial line-up disbanded.
His group’s Eurovision win came after they had their first European number one with Kiss Me Kiss Your Baby, which led the group’s songwriters to begin composing a song to enter into the competition.
Prior to joining Brotherhood Of Man, Lee had already released a solo single called Cry Jose, and had also played in the Johnny Howard Band.
Lee was born Martin Barnes, on November 26, 1946, in Purley, London, but had spent five years of his youth living in Australia.
Despite his Eurovision success, Lee in later years described the modern day contest as simply a “light show”.
Asked what he would change about it, he told the Express in 2022: “How long have you got?”
He added that the music had “slipped away” from the show.
“There’s no orchestra anymore. If you can’t sing with an orchestra anymore, what’s the point?”
“I feel, to me, the music has slipped away a little bit, as I’m a songwriter.”
He added: “Eurovision has changed quite dramatically [since the 70s]. It’s [now] more of a light show.
“I like the light show, but the songs seem to have disappeared a bit in the modern era.”
The Eurovision Song Contest is an annual event bringing together nations from all over Europe, and beyond, to compete for the coveted crown.
Each nation submits a song from their homeland to perform in the week before the grand final.
The contest was inspired by and based on Italy’s national Sanremo Music Festival, held in the Italian Riviera since 1951.
Eurovision has been held annually since 1956 – except for 2020 due to the COVID-19 restrictions, making it the longest-running international music competition on television and one of the world’s longest-running television programmes.
The most famous winners of the contest were ABBA.
