Steps star Claire Richards is set to release a new solo album.

The 45-year-old pop star has revealed that she is working on a follow-up to her 2019 debut studio album ‘My Wildest Dreams’ after being inspired by her stint on ITV’s ‘The Masked Singer’ as Knitting.

Claire is quoted by The Sun newspaper’s Bizarre column as saying: “’The Masked Singer’ definitely made me want to do more solo music.

“I’m working on an album at the moment. So hopefully that will be out at some point this year and I’m doing gigs on my own all summer.

“Steps are having a break at the moment so I am working on music as we speak.”

Steps first formed in 1997 and enjoyed success with hits such as ‘Tragedy’ and ‘Stomp’ before splitting in 2001 but have released three brand-new albums and staged a string of sell-out arena tours since reuniting in 2011.

The band are not done yet and are planning a West End musical based on their songs.

The ‘One For Sorrow’ hitmakers – also comprising Faye Tozer, Lee Latchford-Evans, Lisa Scott-Lee, and Ian ‘H’ Watkins – are planning to take their songs to the stage in the form of a jukebox musical, with Lisa explaining that they have a “fantastic back catalogue” which would lend itself well to the world of theatre.

Lisa said: “It is something that excites us as a band and we think we have a fantastic catalogue that would really lend itself to a West End musical, and so we are in talks. It would be an amazing thing do because we have all these wonderful highlights, from winning a BRIT Award to selling out all these arenas and number one albums.”

However, the musical will not be based on the band members themselves.

She explained: “The majority of us love theatre and love that side of things, but I wouldn’t suggest we would all be playing ourselves. It would be great to be behind the scenes, involved in the writing, and involved in the creatives. When we tour, that is what we do. People probably think we just turn up on stage and perform the show, but we are producing the show along with our creative director and our management team.”

You can view the original article HERE.