The children of Spandau Ballet's leading members were crucial in getting the '80s pop group back together after two decades of being at odds – and now the British band is set for a tour, they revealed Wednesday.The formerly feuding band members – brothers Gary and Martin Kemp, Tony Hadley, Steve Norman and John Keeble – credit their kids for stepping in and reuniting them. "My son and Tony's son got together in a pub and said, 'How can we get them back?' " Gary Kemp told reporters Wednesday.
That meeting was one of many in the last two years as the members tried to reboot their musical relationship. They split 20 years ago and a bitter rivalry over royalties ended up in Britain's High Court. Then, Hadley, Norman and Keeble sued Gary Kemp over songwriting payments. The court found for Kemp's case.
Hadley said of the reunion, "There is a realization that time is a great healer." Martin Kemp added, "Families go through terrible times and argue, but in the end we've got back together."
Over the years since they split, the guys, who had a massive worldwide hit with "True" in 1983, now have so many children between them they have enough for "four bands," they joked.
"Mine are just concerned about what we are going to wear in case I embarrass them," Martin Kemp said in a reference to the frilly shirts and kilts they donned at the height of the New Romantic era when they first came to prominence.
The tour of Britain and Ireland kicks off in October, and sources say, they hope to tour America as well. (Tickets are available on the band's website.)
And expect some old-fashioned rivalry to return. The band were often paired off against pop stars Duran Duran during their '80s heyday. Gary Kemp revealed that he "bumped into [Duran Duran's] Nick Rhodes yesterday in London's Soho neighborhood and he asked, " 'When are the dates?' " Letting the chuckles die down, Kemp quipped, "So that they wouldn't clash!"
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