Claire Richards

Richards auditioned for the lineup that would become Steps. She was offered a place in the group on the condition that she lost weight. Steps were formed by Steve Crosby & Barry Upton (writers of "5, 6, 7, 8") alongside Manager Tim Byrne after auditioning hopefuls who answered an ad in The Stage newspaper. She joined the group in 1997 along with Ian "H" Watkins, Lisa Scott-Lee, Faye Tozer and Lee Latchford-Evans, and the band enjoyed considerable popularity across the world over the next five years.

Ever since the band's break-up, rumours had been circulating that they would reunite in one form or another. In early 2011, rumours began circulating that Steps would reunite for a TV series and a one-off concert to mark the tenth anniversary of their 2001 split. Despite the claims being reported by various news stations and newspapers, the reunion was denied by band's members, including Claire Richards on her Twitter page. Richards also announced on 9 July 2011, that a Steps reunion would be "silly", but she would "never say never".[3] However, contrary to these claims, just 12 days later, it was announced that Steps would be reuniting for a four-part Sky Living documentary, depicting their split and the interim years.[4] A new Greatest Hits album reached #1 on the UK album chart in late 2011, and the band toured the UK through 2012.

Following a five-year hiatus, all five members of Steps reunited once more to mark their 20th anniversary with a new studio album and an arena tour. It was later confirmed that Steps have now reformed permanently, and are set to release their sixth studio album in 2020 and tour the UK in late 2021.

After Richards and her fellow group mate Ian "H" Watkins resigned during the last leg of their final tour, the two continued singing as the duo H & Claire. The pair experienced success with their debut single "DJ", which reached No. 3 on the UK Singles Chart, and their next two singles, which both charted in the Top 10. While the duo had initial success, their album Another You, Another Me, which was released in 2002, did not chart high. Richards also co hosted alongside Brian Dowling and Tess Daly on SMTV Live in 2002. She took a break from singing to plan her wedding to Steps dancer Mark Webb. H & Claire disbanded in 2003. After leaving her music career, Richards wanted to take a break from music and concentrate on other projects; she was set to release a debut solo album but due to falling pregnant Richards decided to not pursue music any further. In 2013, Richards announced on Twitter that there was a possibility of her producing a solo album to the success of Steps.

Richards released her first solo material, a cover of the Steps track "One for Sorrow" on 30 July 2015 via her official SoundCloud.[5] The acoustic version of the track was recorded for an event honouring Steps' producer Pete Waterman. The track was arranged and produced by Steve Anderson with whom Richards was now working on a full album.[6] In September 2015, after much fan demand, Richards released a stripped back version of "Deeper Shade of Blue".[7] The track, which was recorded in one take[8] was released on Amazon, iTunes and streaming services on 4 September.

It was announced on 3 August 2018 that Richards was to release her debut solo album, My Wildest Dreams on 2 November 2018. It was preceded by the lead single, "On My Own", which was released on 6 August. It was announced on 8 October 2018, via Richards' official Twitter, that the album had been delayed until 1 February 2019. The album reached #9 in the UK Albums Chart and was promoted with a small theatre tour across venues in the UK.