STEVE NORMAN of Spandau Ballet in conversation with John Robb

What a fabulous treat! Join STEVE NORMAN of SPANDAU BALLET in conversation with John Robb.

Steve will treat us to the story of his life and career, accompanied by a series of associated images including Live Aid, Spandau at school, Spandau in Italy, each capturing a very special moment in time...

Steve is a founder member of the world-famous cult band SPANDAU BALLET, saxophonist, singer, guitarist, percussionist and songwriter.

To this day, SPANDAU BALLET have had 23 hit singles including "True", "Gold" and "Through The Barricades”. They sold over 25 million records worldwide and have been awarded numerous multi-platinum awards.

The band performed at the Live Aid concert at Wembley Stadium and appeared on Band Aid's Christmas classic "Do They Know It's Christmas".

In 1990 after the members of Spandau Ballet went their separate ways, Steve moved to Ibiza and discovered his love for club & dance music. During his 12 years on the island, he worked with numerous musicians, producers and DJ’s and he was involved in various projects & compilations. To this day Steve performs alongside DJs and is a DJ himself occasionally, specialising on the sound of the London Blitz Club and the New Romantic music scene of the late 70s/early 80s. He also produced and performed on a recording of Joe Smooth’s ‘Promised Land’ by The Collective along with DJs/remixers John Jones and Martin Ikin (

In addition to his ongoing dance projects, Steve performed saxophone, guitar, percussion, and sang for and with Iggy Pop, Steve Harley & Cockney Rebel, Glenn Gregory (Heaven 17), Marc Almond, Marcella Detroit, Jules Holland, Glen Matlock (Sex Pistols), Clem Burke (Blondie), Kim & Marty Wilde, Belinda Carlisle, Paul Young, Carol Decker (T’Pau), Limahl, Nick Heyward, Marc JB (Bimbo Jones), Jeremy Healey, Ministry Of Sound, Byron Stingly (Ten City), Ibizarre, My Life Story , Quintessenza and more.

In 2009 Spandau Ballet reunited and undertook the worldwide ‘Reformation Tour’ including 3 sold out shows at the O2 Arena in London. In October that year they released their new album ‘Once More’ with the title track co-written by Steve.

A sixty-five dates world tour with Spandau Ballet followed in 2015 with the final show in Hong Kong.

His love and passion for David Bowie's music led him to co-found a band project called Holy Holy featuring “Spiders from Mars” Woody Woodmansey and Bowie/T.Rex producer Tony Visconti alongside members of the late Mick Ronson’s family. Steve also played and toured with further Bowie musicians such as Earl Slick, Sterling Campbell, Gail Ann Dorsey, Adrian Belew and Mike Garson.

In summer 2017 Steve got personally invited by Iggy Pop to play saxophone on his smash hit "Real Wild Child" at one of Iggy's shows in France.

The multi-instrumentalist Steve Norman is also a songwriter and singer. Songs like "Motivator" (Spandau Ballet), "Once More" (Spandau Ballet), "We Are King" (Holy Holy), numerous solo tracks and the legendary saxophone solo of the Spandau Ballet classic "True" were written by him.

Steve started playing his solo shows in 2017 with a 5-piece band and sold out several shows in Europe. He regularly performs as a solo artist with his band “The Sleevz” which features his son, Jaco on bass.

In 2019 Steve created his new project “80s Pioneers” together with his partner and vocalist, Sabrina Winter. It is a collective of legendary 80s artists that helped to shape this popular decade with hits that are still very much cherished and loved by a lot of people. Steve’s roll in this project is as curator, musical director and multi-instrumentalist. He puts together a top-class house band and selects the “80s Pioneers” performers/singers, individually customized for each event. He also acts as MC on the night, introducing the performers and playing and singing with all of them. Each “Pioneer” performs its 3 – 5 finest and most successful songs. Hit after hit after hit…. with no changeovers or breaks in-between the singers. It is like a mini festival in itself that can be brought onto big festival/arena stages. But it can also be stripped down to match a small private event. The line-up is evolving and can vary between 3 and 6 “Pioneers”, depending on the demands and preferences of event organizers.

Steve has just completed his ‘Journeys To Glory UK Tour’ with The Sleevz which celebrated the 40th anniversary of Spandau Ballet’s ground-breaking first album release.

Event Venue

INNSIDE Manchester, 1 First Street, Manchester, United Kingdom