Richard Fairbrass

Richard Fairbrass
Background information
Born	(1953-09-22) 22 September 1953 Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, England
Genres	Pop, dance
Occupation(s)	Singer and TV presenter
Years active	1984 – Present
Associated acts	Right Said Fred
Website	www.rightsaidfred.com

Richard Peter John Fairbrass (born 22 September 1953) is an English singer, bassist and TV presenter, best known as lead singer of the pop group Right Said Fred, which spawned a huge hit in the 1990s with the single "I'm Too Sexy". He has won two awards alongside his band at the Ivor Novello Awards.^[1]

Career

Before forming his own band, Richard was a bassist who had played with several prominent artists, including Boy George.^[2] In 1984 he appeared in Jazzin' for Blue Jean, a David Bowie video, as the bass player.^[3]

In the late 1980s Richard joined with his brother Fred to form Right Said Fred. The Fairbrass brothers performed as a duo for a brief period touring in New York. Guitarist Rob Manzoli joined them in 1990.^[2]

During the band's heyday, Madonna publicly expressed (in front of sixty million viewers of America’s Arsenio Hall Show) her desire to go to bed with Richard.^[2][4]

In 1994 he was joint winner of Rear of the Year with Mandy Smith.^[5] Following this, Fairbrass co-hosted (with Rhona Cameron) a TV series aimed at an LGBT audience called Gaytime TV (1995–1999) on BBC Two. He also co-presented a game show The Desert Forges with Gabrielle Richens on Channel 5 in 2001.

In April 2007 Fairbrass was reported to be planning to run for Mayor of London in the 2008 election.^[6] Shortly after, during a gay rights rally in Red Square, Moscow, on 27 May 2007 commemorating the 14th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in Russia, Richard and Fred Fairbrass were assaulted by members of a counter-demonstration staged by ultra-nationalists.^[7][8] Richard Fairbrass sustained a cut under his eye. Speaking about the incident upon his return to the UK, Richard Fairbrass commented, "When it was over I actually felt more sorry for the guy that whacked me than I did for me ... How threatened can he be, how insecure is he to be threatened by a bisexual pop singer who's most famous for singing "I'm Too Sexy"?".^[7] In November of that year, he announced that he and his brother would be taking part in the next series of I'm a Celebrity ... Get Me Out of Here!;^[9] however, they did not make it onto the show.^[10]

In an episode of Celebrity Fantasy Homes, hosted by Gaby Roslin, Richard and his brother Fred were looking to spend £2,000,000 on a property in Sussex with 3 separate living accommodations for them and their mother.^[11]

In 2013, Right Said Fred re-recorded I'm Too Sexy as "I'm Too Smurfy" for World Smurfs Day. Richard appears on the promo, which features fresh clips from the 3D film. Global Smurfs Day benefits the charity MediCinema, which builds cinemas in hospitals.^[12]

Personal life

Fairbrass was born on 22 September 1953 in Kingston upon Thames, Surrey, England, and was brought up in East Grinstead, West Sussex. He has a younger brother, "Fred" (born Christopher Abbott Bernard Fairbrass on 2 November 1956).^[13]

Richard had come out as bisexual in 1991 to The Sun. Richard's long term partner, from the early 1980s until the early 2000s, was Stuart Pantry, a BBC make-up artist.^[14][15] At the end In 2007, Richard said to the Metro: "My last relationship was with a girl, so I am on the cusp. I have never described myself as completely gay".^[16] Fairbrass has also said he appreciates "pretty guys who look like girls and girls who look like pretty guys."^[17]

References

External links

• Official website of Right Said Fred
• Right Said Fred at MySpace