Pete Waterman

Peter Alan Waterman was born in Stoke Heath, Coventry, Warwickshire on Wednesday, 15 January 1947. He was educated at Whitley Abbey Comprehensive School until he left in 1962 to work for British Railways. He became a steam locomotive fireman based at Wolverhampton (Stafford Road) depot. In 2002 he said of his time working for British Railways, "I loved every minute of it. The squalor was unreal, but the camaraderie was phenomenal." After closure of the depot in 1963, Waterman chose to follow a career in music, being inspired by The Beatles. To supplement his income as a DJ, he became a gravedigger and then an apprentice at General Electric Company, becoming a trade union official. He also worked as a coal miner.

Building a record collection through rare US imports, his DJ work began to take him across the UK, entertaining bigger crowds with a blend of rhythm and blues and soul music tunes he had sourced. Given a residency with the Mecca Leisure Group, he developed new initiatives including matinée discos for under 18s at Coventry's Locarno club, which gave him a valuable insight into what music interested a younger audience. Waterman noticed that the younger dancers preferred records with high beats per minute and this influenced his later work. It was at the Locarno that Waterman first met Neville Staple, later to be a vocalist for The Specials – a band that Waterman would manage for a brief period. In early 2009, Waterman wrote the foreword to Staple's biography, Original Rude Boy, which was published by Aurum Press in May 2009.

Waterman took up a job as an A&R man, and worked in the Philadelphia scene, which included introducing the Three Degrees to the UK. He then moved to Jamaica working with Peter Tosh and Lee Perry, and producing Susan Cadogan’s reggae-crossover hit "Hurt So Good".

In 1979, Waterman set up Loose Ends with Peter Collins, the first coming under the name 14–18 with a single inspired by World War I, "Good-Bye-Ee," and hits with artists like Musical Youth and Nik Kershaw. He then set up his own company PWL (Pete Waterman Limited) in 1984, quickly signing producers Matt Aitken and Mike Stock, who produced the song "Whatever I Do" for Hazell Dean. Stock Aitken Waterman became one of the most successful musical production teams of the 1980s.

Waterman has been involved in at least twenty-two UK number one singles with his acts (including Dead or Alive, Kylie Minogue, Rick Astley, Bananarama, Steps, Mel and Kim, Donna Summer, Sinitta, Cliff Richard and Jason Donovan) and he claims upwards of 500 million sales worldwide (inclusive of singles, albums, compilation inclusions, downloads, etc.). Waterman also appeared in the Steps' video "Tragedy".

In the late-1990s, production company Celador hired Waterman to compose a song for their new quiz show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. The company felt the song unsuitable, and instead approached Keith Strachan.

Waterman co-wrote and produced with Mike Stock "That Sounds Good to Me" by Josh Dubovie, the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest entry for the United Kingdom, which finished in last place with 10 points.

Waterman was worth £30 million in 2006/07, according to The Sunday Times Rich List.

Waterman has been married three times:

Elizabeth Reynolds (m. 1970–74, divorced): one son, Paul (1971–2005)

Julie Reeves (m. 1980–84, divorced): one son

Denise Gyngell (m. 1991–99, divorced): two children