Steve Ellis, the singer behind Sixties hit Everlasting Love, has died aged 76.
The star was the frontman with London-based pop group Love Affair, who scored a No1 with their best-known single in 1968. It knocked The Beatles‘ Hello Goodbye off the top spot.
The band went on to have four further Top 20 hits.
The news of Ellis’s death after a ‘chronic illness’ was confirmed via a statement on the singer’s Facebook page.
It read: ‘Dear Friends, It’s with a heavy heart that we share the news of Steve’s passing.
‘After complications from a chronic illness, Steve peacefully left the world on the evening of October 30, 2026, in the presence of his loved ones.’
‘Please feel free to leave your thoughts, memories, or condolences for the family in the comments below. Everlasting Love.’
Born in Edgware, north-west London, Ellis’s first band as a 15-year-old was The Clifton Bystanders before he formed the Soul Survivors, who later became Love Affair.
Steve Ellis in 1968, when Love Affair got to No1 with Everlasting Love… news that the singer has died aged 76 was revealed on his Facebook page
Love Affair formed in London in 1966… left to right, drummer Maurice Bacon, Ellis, bassist Mick Jackson, keyboardist Lynton Guest and guitar player Rex Brayley
Born in Edgware, north-west London, Ellis’s first band as a 15-year-old was The Clifton Bystanders before he formed the Soul Survivors, whose name was later changed to Love Affair.
Love Affair released their first single, She Smiled Sweetly, in 1967. But the song, written by the Rolling Stones’ Mick Jagger and Keith Richards, was a flop and it wasn’t until January of the following year that the band tasted success with Everlasting Love. Ellis was just 16 years old when he recorded the song.
The band had heard the original version of the track, recorded by US soul singer Robert Knight, during a rehearsal session in Walthamstow, with Ellis revealing: ‘I loved it and so we set about putting it down on tape.’
But the song attracted some controversy when it was later revealed that the band, aside from Ellis, hadn’t played on the released version.
Love Affair’s original recording produced by Muff Winwood was rejected by Island Records, so producer Mike Smith decided to record a new version of the song with Ellis and a backing group of session musicians rather than his actual bandmates, admitting they were pressed for time.
The band later came clean when they were ambushed with questions about the recording on the talk show Good Evening I’m Jonathan King.
Following Everlasting Love’s success the band had four further top 20 hits over the next two years – Rainbow Valley, A Day Without Love, One Road and Bringing on Back the Good Times. Their album The Everlasting Love Affair was released in December 1968.
Love Affair in 1967, when they released their first single She Smiled Sweetly
After growing frustrated with being labelled as a pop band, the group experimented with a new sound which flopped in the charts. Ellis felt the band had run its course and he quit in December 1969 for a solo career.
In 1970, he sang on the soundtrack for Loot the film of Joe Orton’s play directed by Silvio Narizzano.
He then formed the short-lived band Ellis and later joined the hard rock band Widowmaker, releasing their debut studio album in 1976.
Blues guitarist and friend Norman Beaker shared a tribute on Facebook on Sunday, praising Ellis, whose voice was compared to Steve Marriott of the Small Faces, as a ‘legend’ of the UK’s mod movement.
‘He was a good friend and a great voice. I recently performed a track on his new album, one of my songs She Heals My Soul. He was a legend with the mod movement, a great character, he will be sadly missed,’ wrote Beaker.
Record producer David Courtney posted: ‘I am sad to announce the passing of my long time friend Steve Ellis who left us [on Saturday]. My thoughts are with Val and the family.’
