TONY TERRY WITH YOU FULL

Many interpret the award-winning ballad as an ode to a lost romantic love, however, it was originally written by Tony about his grief in the aftermath of his brother's tragic suicide. Hopefully not too soon, but in the future, sometime when I'm gone, my great, great grandkids will go 'that was my great great grandad that was'. Terry said: 'What a song, what a song! It's kept the name going all these years, and it's the legacy that gets left behind for the East17 brand. Of course, as the years go on, Terry is reminded of just how much time has passed, noting: 'Normally we'll just meet a younger generation and they'll say 'my mum or my nan loves you' - it's not even my mum now, it's my nan!' Although he must have heard the song played countless times over the year, Terry still 'absolutely loves it', and has fond memories of recording it with former bandmates Tony Mortimer, Brian Harvey, and and John Hendy.

TONY TERRY WITH YOU FULL

Nowadays, Terry reflects that the song 'kind of reinvents the band again' each year for a new generation, who may not be familiar with East17's full back catalogue, but will instantly recall the iconic white coats from the quintessentially '90s video. The number-one song of 1994, Stay Another Day is just as beloved today, but at the time of its release, Terry didn't think he'd still be hearing it blasted out of taxi cab radios and shopping centre speakers 29 Christmases later. I love Take That, to be honest with you, they're good guys'. Every track they brought out was number one, number one. Terry jokingly added that the victory was like sticking 'two fingers up at Take That', laughing: 'They were always getting numbers ones! We never got a number one in the UK apart from Stay Another Day. We've done it, we've done it, a Christmas number one!' And I just sat there smiling to myself, just thinking, 'Wow.

And they said, 'At number two, Mariah Carey!' and the biggest rush just went through my feet to my head. 'I remember them doing the countdown from number ten, and I remember thinking 'I hope it's us still' because we'd already been number one two weeks previous, so we were still at number one. Islington-born Terry told the Mirror: 'I was sat around the dinner table at my mum and dad's house, and we were eating Christmas dinner, and listening to the charts on the radio and it was between us and Mariah Carey who was going to be number one. The 49-year-old can 'so clearly' remember where he was when he learned the touching track had bagged the Christmas number one spot for 1994, beating Mariah Carey's mighty All I Want For Christmas Is You. Looking ahead to Christmas 2024, he's hoping their new single Merry Quitmas will make a mark in its own, very important, way. Longtime East17 member Terry Coldwell never could have imagined that their most famous track Stay Another Day would remain a staple of Christmastime nearly 30 years on. It's a Christmas classic but there's a lot fans don't know about the real story behind the hit.

Tony terry with you