Steve Ellis, Voice of ‘Everlasting Love,’ Dies at 76

Steve Ellis, the unmistakable lead voice on Love Affair’s 1968 chart-topper “Everlasting Love,” has died at 76. His family announced that he died peacefully on October 30 after complications from a chronic illness, with loved ones beside him. No more specific cause was disclosed.

A teenage voice on a lasting pop standard

Ellis was still a teenager when Love Affair turned “Everlasting Love” into a defining British pop single. The song had first been recorded by American singer Robert Knight, but Love Affair’s sweeping version reached No. 1 in the United Kingdom in early 1968. Its rise was big enough to replace the Beatles’ “Hello, Goodbye” at the top of the chart.

The recording also became famous for the arrangement behind Ellis. Session musicians supplied the instrumentation while his vocal remained at the center, a revelation that caused controversy at the time but did little to weaken the record’s appeal. The track did not chart in the United States, yet it endured across generations through radio play, later covers and film placements.

Love Affair followed it with three more U.K. Top 10 singles: “Rainbow Valley,” “A Day Without Love” and “Bringing on Back the Good Times.” Ellis left the group around the end of the 1960s and continued into new projects, including the band Ellis with keyboard player Zoot Money and, later, the rock group Widowmaker.

A career interrupted, then renewed

After stepping away from music, Ellis worked on the docks in England. A serious forklift accident in 1981 badly injured his feet and led to years of operations and rehabilitation. He eventually returned to recording and performing, reconnecting with the song that had shaped his public life.

That relationship was not always simple. Ellis acknowledged that he once resisted performing “Everlasting Love,” but ultimately recognized what it meant to audiences and how fortunate he had been to make such a durable record at 17. His later work included the 2015 album The Best of Days, featuring collaborators such as Roger Daltrey and Paul Weller.

Ellis leaves behind a catalog rooted in one of the most recognizable choruses of late-1960s British pop, along with a performance that remained the emotional anchor of Love Affair’s signature hit.