Steve Bronski, Co-Founder of Bronski Beat, Dead at 61

Steve Bronski, part of the group The Bronski Beat, has died. He was 61 years old.

“He was an intelligent and very musical person.” Working with him on songs was fun. One song that he wrote changed our lives and touched others. Thanks for the melody, Steve.

The synthpop trio was formed in 1983. They have a singer, keyboards, and percussion. The keyboard player has the same name as me! Their first song is called “Small Town Boy.” It went number 48 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1985. It also made it to number one on Dance Club Songs chart for one week.

The song “Small Town Boy” is from a gay man who was beaten by homophobic men. He left Coz he wanted to find answers that could not be found at home, where the other people would talk about him and put him down.

This story was also in the video. A man is swimming, and his friends are on the train. This man admires another man who swims, but when he gets home, his parents don’t like him because he’s gay. Then he leaves town with two of his friends on the train again.

In the beginning, we were three gay men who started a band. We did not feel like part of any movement. But many years later, it turned out that there were more gay artists than the public knew about.

The group’s first album, The Age of Consent, came out in 1984. It was released 35 years ago. To celebrate the anniversary, the group remastered it for people to listen to.

Somerville left the group and formed his own. Bronski Beat went on for a long time. Steinbachek died in 2017.

See below Somerville’s tribute to Bronski: