adam rickitt

popography

Funnily enough my love of Adam Rickitt isn’t just about his looks (although it doesn’t hurt) but I always have been a big fan of his album, and his voice. Even though his pop carer was very short lived, I believe his album to be one of the best albums in the world of pop, and his voice is rather decent (strong enough to carry the main lead in a West End musical!)

i breathe again

Fresh off the cobbles of Coronation Street Adam dived head first into the charts with his debut single I Breathe Again co-written by hit makers Jules & Stone, and scored a UK Top 5 hit, which went on to sell over 200,000 copies in the UK, earning Silver status. It also did the business throughout most of Europe, peaking at No.22 in the Eurochart Hot 100. The song is well remembered for the saucy video. I think it’s a great high energy pop track, much deserving of its success.

The all important 2nd single was Everything My Heart Desires didn’t perform quite as well, peaking at No.15 in the UK Top 10. Another great pop tune which showcased his voice better than his debut. Check out the video below.

3rd single The Best Thing fell short of the UK Top 20 at No.25. This was co written by Adam and Jules & Stone and is another great up-tempo track with a bit of a disco vibe.

The release of the album Good Times saw Adam hit the promo trek up and down the country. I remember seeing him at HMV here in Southampton and getting my copy signed by the man himself. The album itself is imho one of the greatest pop albums of all time. There is so much here to love, including my personal fav Time Is On Our Side which is a futuristic dance track fuelled by a great vocal performance and a really catchy chorus.

After the album under performed and the 3rd single failing to hit the Top 20, Adam was dropped by Polydor. This is once again another example of the harsh world of pop music. You’d think that with a debut single doing so well and achieving Silver certification, he’d be given the chance of a 2nd album. But, alas, it wasn’t meant to be.

rent

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Adam landed the lead role for the UK Tour of cult musical Rent in 2001. This is what lead me to see the musical for the first time and made me completely fall in love with it. I consider myself a #Renthead, have seen many different versions of the show and consider it to be my favourite musical of all time. If you’ve never seen it, I couldn’t recommend it strongly enough. I don’t know if it was because it was the first time I’d seen it but this production will always be my favourite. Debbie Kurup will always be my favourite Mimi, Neil Couperthwaite has yet to be outdone as Angel (although Jay Webb in William Baker’s Rent Revisited 2007, was absolutely beautiful) and obviously Adam will always be my Mark but Anthony Wrapp who is the original, who I had previously loved in Adventures in Babysitting is an excellent Mark Cohen. It has to be said though that there will only ever be one Maureen, and that belongs to Idina Menzel. Would loved to have seen her perform in this, although the movie does suffice.

When Rent came to The Mayflower in my hometown Southampton, I was working at Tower Records. I was lucky enough to bag an interview with him for our in store magazine POT (People Of Tower) and I don’t think I could’ve been more nervous. I don’t really remember it, apart from that it was a very hot summer’s day and I was rather sweaty (from nerves as well as the heat) but he was a perfect gent and instantly put me at ease for the short interview. He was even nice enough to sign my programme as I had already seen it, gave me a further 2 tickets for the show and posed for a photo with me (which I had my bloody eyes closed in once it was developed and the nice man at Happy Snaps did some tinkering, replacing my eyes with open ones from another photo, but I ended up looking like a character from Who Framed Roger Rabbit!). He even came in to the store the next day to thank me for the interview. How lovely. Unfortunately, my interview never got printed as the magazine went under, as did Tower Records no long after. Ahh, those were the days.

He was also in a play called Office Games with Charlie Brooks (Jeanine from Eastenders) with fellow fan Sarah Thomas (hello if you’re reading this!) who I met online and became friendly with over our love of Adam. She had arranged to meet him after the show and he politely said that he remembered me from my interview.

shortland street

After a couple more spells in Coronation Street as Nick Tilsley (and that kiss), Adam went from one street to another landing a role overseas in Shortland Street in 2007. He played troubled Kieran Mitchell for over 3 years until he was dramatically killed off in an hour and a half special.

In 2010 Adam took a brief return to music, promoting new single Tonight at pride, plus an appearance at G-A-Y. Unfortunately the single failed to chart and the new album he was working on never saw the light of day. #injustice!

5th story

2014 saw him on our screens and on stage again for The Big Reunion. He was teamed with Kavana, Gareth Gates, Dane Bowers and Kenzie from Blazin’ Squad for meta boyband 5th Story.

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The previously solo starts took the lead on each of their hits and united as a band for the popular TV show and live stage production, along with other newly reformed bands 3T, Damage, Girl Thing and headliners Eternal. I was lucky enough to attend live show with my friend Barry at The Hammersmith Apollo, and it was an incredible night, despite my suffering with a bad back! It was such a star studded affair as after a last minute seat relocation, we were sat amongst members of Five, Liberty X, Atomic Kitten and Emma Bunton who was there to support her hubby Jade. We even bumped into Lisa Armstrong from Deuce and tried to convince her to reform the band for the next season! What a night!

hollyoaks

In 2017 he joined another highly popular soap, Hollyoaks, as regular character Kyle Kelly. Over the course of 3 years he got to grips in meaty storylines locking lips with a closeted Duncan from Blue, locked up for drug dealing, disappears and thought murdered, and eventually losing his struggle with mental health and committing suicide, publicly advocating for mental health issues personally and sharing his struggle with depression.

Adam and his wife Katy are regulars on Instagram, blogging about their dogs, date nights and life in general.

Thank you Adam for your contribution to #PopMusic.