With his era-defining smash hit ‘The One and Only’, film star good looks and boy next door charm, Chesney Hawkes was one of the UK’s biggest pop stars of the ‘90s. Three decades on, and now certifiably the kind of bloke you’d love to have a pint with, the national treasure Chesney kick-starts a new stage in his career and introduces himself to brand new audiences with the new single ‘Get A Hold Of Yourself’ – his first all-new music in more than a decade.
Premiered today on Radio 2, ‘Get A Hold Of Yourself’ finds Chesney applying that famous voice to a classic, high energy pop-rock sound – but with a bright modernist edge that brings him back up to date without losing the essence of what he’s best known for. Lyrically it’s brave enough to declare this is who I am and I’m not changing for anyone – a message that makes it feel like a grown-up sequel to his biggest hit. It’s a bold reintroduction to his talents, and one that will set him on the path to a long overdue next chapter, with the official video to follow next week showing Chesney as you’ve never seen him before…baring all….
Chesney says, “It’s really strange experiencing this all again – 3 decades later and with 3 decades worth of growing up. It’s taken a long time to feel confident enough to really throw myself back into a project but growing up and feeling much more comfortable and freer within myself has allowed that to happen. That’s what “Get A Hold Of Yourself” is about, getting hold of yourself and being free and not giving a f*ck what people think! I think people are going to be surprised that this is a Chesney track- I hope you enjoy it!”
Chesney wrote ‘Get A Hold Of Yourself’ with its producer, the BRIT Award winner and Grammy nominee Jake Gosling (Ed Sheeran, One Direction) and songwriter Adam Coltman.
Chesney Hawkes’ story is a one-in-a-billion rise which, rather appropriately, began when the then 19-year-old starred in alongside Roger Daltrey in the film ‘Buddy’s Song’ as a wannabe popstar. Its main song, ‘The One and Only’, quickly became a huge hit, spending five weeks at #1 in the UK as well as climbing the charts in America and right across Europe. Seemingly overnight, Chesney had become the next big thing. He soon landed a second hit, ‘A Man Not A Boy’, and saw his debut album (‘Buddy’s Song’ in the UK and ‘The One and Only’ in the US) follow his singles into the upper reaches of the charts.
Chesney continued to record, releasing another three albums to date, all of which were compiled in the 2022 box set ‘The Complete Picture’. People still loved ‘The One and Only’ and they particularly loved Chesney so there was always an audience whenever he played, but family life had become his main priority. He would resurface for occasional but always popular forays into select reality shows and in nostalgic, flashback-to-the-’90s documentaries. Maybe in the back of his mind lurked the question of unfinished business in the music industry, but Chesney’s life was as happy as he could hope for.
Yet recent years have seen Chesney gradually stepping back into the spotlight, with countless festival sets (often featuring fun takes on songs from the likes of The Killers, The Kaiser Chiefs and his old friend Nik Kershaw), a joyous headline show at the O2 Academy Islington and an unforgettable Unexpected Star Star appearance on ‘Michael MacIntyre’s Big Show’.
His love of football has also instigated a time of rediscovery for him, first becoming the unofficial lucky mascot of the Englandteam after performing at half-time during their 2022 World Cup win versus Wales, and then playing at the fanzone and hanging out with fellow West Ham fans as the team made history by winning the Europa Conference League in Prague in 2023.
But now Chesney is back in the music world and big things await – and you can’t take that away from him.
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