Louise Redknapp was in Eternal with fellow singers Kéllé Bryan and Easther and Vernie Bennett – but a planned reunion in 2024 was shelved after two of the singers shared controversial views
Louise Redknapp has ruled out reuniting with her Eternal bandmates after some of her former bandmates made controversial comments about the LGBTQ+ community. Louise was a member of the original Eternal line-up alongside Easther and Vernie Bennett.
Louise later introduced the sister to her friend Kéllé Bryan who completed the line-up and they went on to enjoy huge success on the charts – with smash singles including Stay, Someday and the chart topper I Wanna Be the Only One. Louise, 50, quit the group in 1995 and went on to enjoy music success as a solo artist.
Easther, Vernie and Kéllé continued as Eternal on and off over subsequent years, it was in 2024 that the group planned to enjoy a full reunion. However, Easther and Vernie caused waves when they made comments about the transgender community.
This led to Louise and Kéllé to drop out of plans – and it appears this has created a rift within the group that may never be repaired. Easther and Vernie have continued to perform as Eternal and have drafted in Christel Lakhdar as a fellow singer. But Louise has hinted that she and Kéllé will never return to the line-up.
In an interview with NME, the Naked singer said: “I make no judgements on other people’s beliefs, but they should also respect that I don’t want to be told what I should and shouldn’t be able to do. I’ve performed at Prides and Mighty Hooplas throughout the whole of my career, and I truly believe that without the support of that community, I wouldn’t have had the career I have had.”
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She continued: “Though I respect everybody’s choices, I was happy to stand firm on my choices and opinions, and these are shows and events that I enjoy and causes I will always carry on supporting. It was as simple as that.”
She insisted: “There was no big fallout; it was just, ‘that doesn’t work for me, I respect your stance on it – but it isn’t mine’. I’m proud of standing up for the LGBTQ+ community and want to continue doing so.”
Asked if the original line-up could ever re-form, Louise appeared to drive a nail into the coffin. She said: “There’s no ill-will. Those girls [Easther and Vernie Bennett] are hugely talented and incredible singers, and I’m honoured we made the music we did. However, our baseline beliefs are different, and I can’t see Eternal ever getting back together, but I wish them luck for their journey.”
It wasn’t all negative memories for Louise, however, as she also cast her mind back to some of the good times that she enjoyed in the group. She recalled selling huge numbers of records – and winning praise from some of the biggest names in music.
She said: “Regardless of whether people’s music tastes were indie or rock, Eternal sold 1.5million records in our first year and you can’t deny that. We were a live vocal act, and people forget that element.
“We weren’t dancing onstage to a backing tape. Whitney Houston was a fan of ours, and Luther Vandross rang us up when we were in the studio, saying ‘I love this new track girls – you’ve done a great job!’, which was weird.”
Next month, Louise will unleash her fifth studio album as a solo singer. Titled Confessions, the record sees her co-writing and collaborating with big hit producers including Little Mix collaborator MNEK and Rachel Steven’s co-writer Hannah Robinson.
Discussing the album with Attitude magazine back in February, she gushed: “Walking into the studio with some of the biggest songwriters in the UK at the moment, you feel, ‘Am I good enough?’ Then you go, yeah, I really am, actually. It’s backing yourself.”
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