Ivor Neville “Nick” Kamen (15 April 1962 – 4 May 2021) was an English male model, songwriter, and musician. He was best known for the singles “Each Time You Break My Heart” from 1986 and “I Promised Myself” from 1990, as well as for appearing in a now-iconic 1985 Levi advert.
His debut single was the 1986 UK number five hit “Each Time You Break My Heart”, from his eponymous début album. Written and produced by Madonna and Stephen Bray, it also cracked both the US dance chart (remix by Shep Pettibone) and the Top 50 in Canada. Madonna also sang the backing vocals on the track. Kamen also had a No. 16 follow-up in the UK with the second single, “Loving You Is Sweeter Than Ever” (a cover of the Four Tops’ 1966 hit), although his later singles were less-commercially successful in the UK, more so in the rest of Europe, particularly Italy, France, Germany, and Spain.
Kamen’s second album Us (1988) was produced by Patrick Leonard. Madonna again made an appearance as a backing vocalist on the song “Tell Me”, this time without contributing to the songwriting or production. The song became a massive hit in Italy in the summer of 1988, spending a total of nine weeks at number one. In 1989, Kamen performed the song “Turn It Up” on the soundtrack to Walt Disney’s film, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.
1990 saw the release of one of his biggest hits. The single “I Promised Myself”, from the album Move Until We Fly, reached Number 1 in eight European countries and was the fourth most played record in Europe in 1990. The song was later covered by Dead or Alive (1999), A-Teens (2004), Basshunter (2009), and most recently by German punk rockers Maggers United (2013).
In 1992, Kamen released his last album, entitled Whatever, Whenever.
Nick Kamen died, after a long illness, from bone marrow cancer on 4 May 2021 aged 59. he will be forever missed.
Je ne l’oublierai jamais… Il me manquera éternellement… RIP my love
I have such good memories of his songs, i did not know he was this ill so about a 2 months ago i bought A 6 CD set from Cherry Pop. Nick Kamen The Complete Collection, it has all his albums and 12 inches plus some bonustracks that previously unreleased. Two Discs contain together 32 tracks of remixes and rarities. And it has a booklet with pictures and biography of Nick and his music carreer. He will be missed…..
Alex.
RIP NK
Always loved the remixes to “Each Time You Break My Heart” and his association to Madonna.
Oh man… I have to say I hated “I promise Myself”, When it firsth came out I thought that guitar was a ripoff of “A Little Respect” of my favorite band at that time, Erasure… Then I started to love it on the dance floor!
R.I.P Nick.
So sad,love his tunes.Will you be uploading any of his tracks please Paul??
RIP Nick. you will be missed.
He had a short pop career. Just one top 10 UK hot but he’s fondly remembered by anyone that was around in the 80s and into pop! RIP.
This is very sad and shocking news.
59 is so very young.
To go through such a terrible illness is so very sad indeed.
Through his music he will live on….
Each Time, Tell Me and the almighty I Promise Myself are my go-to tracks. They are so uplifting at times when I feel down.
🙁
Great Tribute. can you please reupload all his 12″ you have on your site in his honor
Hello Paul . It’s a great loss to the fans. Could you re-upload all of Nick Kamen’s music? there are many songs things but they are all blocked. Greetings from Chile!
really sad news rest in peace dear Nick and thanks you for your great music another star in paradise.
I immediately thought of you Paul when the news first broke and I find it so sad myself. Terrible that he suffered a long time with the illness. You have shared some of his dance mixes with us over the years so we can play them in tribute to his memory.
Jeff
Very sad news indeed Nick is one of my guilty pleasures when I listen to his music he not only makes me dance but he soothes me as well. Gonna miss him.
Paul,
There should be no such thing as a guilty pleasure.
Love what you love, sing out loud like you’re onstage at Wembley and dance. Who cares who’s watching.
Love and light to you, Paul.
And I hope Nick is at peace after such a devastating illness. He was an underrated talent.
Best,
Chris
I’ve been having a kitchen Eurodisco in his name whilst cooking dinner, mostly with tracks sourced from here. Very sad news.
At least we still have his music even though he is no longer with us.
“Each Time…” is such a classic. Thanks for all your efforts, Paul! x