Damage break silence on first headline tour in 26 years and reveal painful secret behind iconic music video
The band opened up about the pain they endured during one of the groups most infamous music videos
BRITISH R&B legends Damage have returned to the spotlight with their first headline tour in 26 years as they celebrate their 30th anniversary in the music industry.
The band’s soulful hits such as Love II Love and Ghetto Romance defined the late nineties.
Now, over two decades on from their last headline tour in 1998 the group back on the road for their 30IRTY The Anniversary Tour.
The tour has been met with overwhelming support, including a sold-out show at Islington Academy.
Their members include Jade Jones, Andrez Harriott, Rahsaan Jas, and Noel Simpson.
Speaking exclusively to The Sun the group discussed how touring has changed from all those years ago to now.
Andrez Harriott, said: “I think we’re a lot more strategic now about what we’re doing and where we’re positioning ourselves.
“What shows do we want to do? What shows don’t we want to do? How do we want to appear? What’s the song selection? What will create the most intensive emotion in at that time? What do people want to hear?
“Again, how we present ourselves all of these things really factor in. They always have, but at this age now, you’re really thinking about how you present yourself as a band to the audience.”
As Damage continue their tour fans can expect electrifying performances and a celebration of the groups lasting impact on British R&B.
“There’s a lot of truth and integrity in what we do. When people watch us now, they can feel us. That’s the feedback we’re getting, they can just feel the honesty and the commitment to the music and the commitment to the journey that they’ve been on with us,” Andrez continued.
“That’s appreciated. Truth and integrity is coming through strong in a lot of what we’re doing.”
“I think it’s nice to be in it just for the love. It’s not about business.
“It’s not about trying to make money, It is just about, like I said before, us boys getting together and enjoying ourselves on stage. Like Andre said, we do it for the love,” adds band member Noel Simpson.
The band also opened up about some of the physical challenges they faced over the years, including a moment on one of the group’s most infamous music videos.
The groups iconic Love II Love video saw every member hoisted up by strings as they sang the hit track.
Behind the glamour Noel Simpson admitted that he was actually in pain during filming, he said: “ Love II Love, I was in pain.
“We’ve done it on strings, so there’s been a few bands that have kind of stolen the idea or took inspiration, whatever one you want to say.
“NSYNC did it. But I can see in the video, I remember me being in pain because we was up there for so long. I can see the little wince in my face, so that’s one of the things that stands out from one of the videos for me.”
The group burst onto the scene in 1995 with their ground-breaking debut album Forever.
Damage achieved success in the nineties with 11 hit singles, including four top 10 hits on the UK Singles Chart alongside former member Coreé Richards.
Their follow-up record, Since You’ve Been Gone, reached number 16 in the UK Album Chart in 2001.
Damage are now recognised as one of the UK’s most influential R&B groups having sold over four million records worldwide.
