Джей Астон: от Bucks Fizz до The Fizz

the Bucks Fizz singer

Jay Hilda Aston (born 4 May 1961 in Purley, Surrey) During Aston's membership, the group had 12 of their 13 UK top 40 hit singles, including three number one hits. Since 2009, she has performed alongside fellow original Bucks Fizz members Cheryl Baker and Mike Nolan. The group used to perform under the name the Original Bucks Fizz but are now known as the Fizz.

Aston was born in Purley, Surrey, and came from a theatrical family. Her father was a comedian, while her mother had been a dancer before becoming her husband's straight man. They also performed as acrobats. Her brother Lance performed at the 1980 Eurovision Song Contest with the band Prima Donna. She was named "Miss Purley" in 1978 and competed in the subsequent Miss England contest, in which she was unplaced. The interval act at the televised Miss England 1978 competition was the group Co Co, who had just been selected to represent Britain in the Eurovision Song Contest 1978 and featured Cheryl Baker in the line up.

Aston was, along with Baker, one of the four members of Bucks Fizz when they were formed in 1981 to compete in that year's Eurovision Song Contest. They won with "Making Your Mind Up"; the song went to number one in many countries, including the United Kingdom. The group went on to become one of the top selling groups of the 1980s, scoring many hit singles and albums over the next few years, including two more British number ones: "The Land of Make Believe" and "My Camera Never Lies". Aston designed many of the group's stage outfits. In 1983 she performed the lead vocal on the song "When We Were Young", which went on to become one of the group's biggest hits. Aston became known for her love of physical exercise, and released a keep fit album in early 1984 called Shape Up and Dance. She was the victim of an attack while out jogging, but fought off the attacker and recovered from the incident. In December 1984, while on tour, Bucks Fizz were involved in a tour coach crash, in which Nolan was seriously injured. However, an injunction was placed on her against commencing a solo career, which took two years to settle and resulted in her selling her Kensington home. In addition, all eight cases were settled out of court after the case was investigated by the attorney general.

In 2004, Bucks Fizz members Cheryl Baker, Mike Nolan and Shelley Preston reunited to form the Original Bucks Fizz and performed in concert throughout the UK. In April 2009, Preston announced that she was leaving the group and Aston agreed to join – the first time she had been a part of Bucks Fizz since 1985. Since then, they have toured the UK extensively and have released four albums to date, one of them, The F–Z of Pop, becoming a top 30 hit in the UK Charts. They currently perform under the name the Fizz.

Before Bucks Fizz, Aston had ambitions to become an actress, but her career in this field encompassed only minor roles in To the Manor Born and Citizen Smith. In 2008, Aston was cast as Claudia Brite in the film The Last Days of Edgar Harding which was shot in August 2008 and screened in 2010. The film has never seen a mainstream release.

Aston married guitarist Dave Colquhoun in August 1999 in Greenwich, London. They have a daughter, Josie Alexandra (born 2003, Bromley, Greater London). In 2011 they lived in Tatsfield, Surrey. Aston's mother Hilda died in 2007, while her father Ted died in 2009. Aston continues to teach dance and performance at her performing arts school in Kent. She was diagnosed with mouth cancer in June 2018. Since then, she has had surgery, and the outlook was "positive". In January 2021, Aston announced that she had been diagnosed with Covid 19 but recovered. In 2022, Aston revealed that her daughter Josie had been diagnosed and was battling Meningitis. She later revealed that her daughter was recovering, although it ‘would be slow’. She came fifth after receiving 384 votes (0.9%).