‘I’ve mixed with Madonna and Robert De Niro, but I’m happier doing the school run now’

Ahead of this weekend’s Hale Barns Carnival, we spoke to Brother Beyond star Nathan Moore about his past, and present.

“I’ve tasted success twice in my life, first with Brother Beyond in the 1980s and then Worlds Apart in the 90s.

There were some great times. We did Top Of The Pops seven times. I met Princess Diana, Madonna and George Michael. I bought Robert Niro a whiskey and coke, and George Best a spritzer. Madonna once sent a car to take me to one of her gigs on the In Bed With Madonna tour in 1990. After the show I went backstage and saw her there with Sandra Bernhard and Warren Beattie. She said to me, ‘What did you learn?’ I wasn’t sure what to answer, so I said ‘how to put on a good show’. I think she was trying to see what I was made of.

But I wouldn’t want to go back to all that now – in fact I honestly think my life is perfect now. For the past 13 years I’ve been living in the Ribble Valley with my wife Donna and eight-year-old son, Nico. Eleven years ago I was getting no work whatsoever, but then the calls starting coming in as the retro circuit became more and more popular. I’m now having the busiest year I’ve ever had, and I’m booked up until August.

My day always starts with the school run, and then I head to the gym. During the week I’m not a pop star at all – I renovate houses with Donna, who’s the brains of the outfit! I like to get stuck in and do a hard day’s graft – yesterday I was cutting down trees with a chainsaw. I don’t want the fame of the 80s again – I’d much rather be doing the school run. Now I manage myself – back in the day I lost a lot of money because I wasn’t on top of it all. Donna collects the money now and is much better at it than I was.

I have a lot of time because I only sing at the weekends. On the retro circuit I see some of the old faces regularly – people like Tony Hadley and Carol Decker I see on the retro weekenders or the Let’s Rock festivals. I did a show with Martin Kemp earlier in the year, and I’m looking forward to performing on the same bill with him at the Hale Barns Carnival. It looks a great line-up. Last weekend I was performing with Worlds Apart in Strasbourg – we had five top-five singles in France – and later this year I’m on a 25-date tour with other acts. So life is really busy, but I’ve got a proper work/life balance now.

A few years ago I auditioned for The Voice. I shouldn’t really have done it, but my dad had gone in for it – he’s retired now but busks at Euston and Liverpool Street Station at the weekends – and so we just decided to get in line and do it together. Tom Jones was absolutely lovely to me – we chatted backstage about my great uncle, a war veteran.

What can people expect in Hale Barns? It will be a total singalong set. I always think it’s boring just to get up and just sing the song – unless everyone is doing it with me I have failed. It’ll be the best of Brother Beyond and much more. I’ll get the party started.”

Nathan Moore will be appearing alongside Spandau Ballet’s Martin Kemp, disco legends Odyssey and soul icons The Real Thing at the Hale Barns Carnival this weekend. For ticket details, visit halebarnscarnival.co.uk.