'Colourblind' - July 2002

🦋 On this day in 2002 Darius released his debut single 'Colourblind'.

It was released on 29th July 2002 and reached No.1 in the UK Singles Chart where it stayed for two weeks.

The song charted again at No.2 on both the UK Official Single Download and Official Single Sales Charts on 19th August 2022 which would have been Darius' 42nd birthday. It also reached No.1 on iTunes chart.

The song was certified Gold in the UK after selling over 400,000 copies. As of July 2024 the song has been streamed over 20 million times on Spotify.

Darius had intended to sing an early version of "Colourblind" at his Pop Idol audition, and the producers had initially agreed that he could and that he could also play his guitar, but the executive producer Nigel Lythgoe, refused and made him re-enter the audition without it and he had to sing a cover of 'Future Love Paradise' by Seal instead.

Following his success on Pop Idol, Darius played the track for both Simon Cowell and Pete Waterman but neither of them thought it should be released as a single. The head of 19 management, Simon Fuller, on the other hand thought that it just "needed some work on the middle 8". Working alongside Pete Glenister and Deni Lew as well as Steve Lillywhite from Mercury, to whom Darius eventually signed, the song was tweaked and went on to become a massive hit that is still as popular 21 years on from it's release.

'Colourblind' was nominated for Record Of The Year in December 2002 where it came third and was the only original song in the top five. It was also nominated for Best Single at the Smash Hits Poll Winner's Party.

As one of the biggest selling records of 2002 Darius performed it on the prestigious Top Of The Pops Christmas Day special and at the Smash Hits Poll Winner's Party.

In the lead up to the release of the record Darius embarked on a huge tour of the UK playing 'Colourblind' at various shows such as the nationwide Party In The Park and Live And Loud gigs. At the Prince's Trust's Party In The Park, in Hyde Park in London, Darius opened the show with 'Colourblind' in front of an audience of 100,000 people. By the end of the summer he had played the song live in to a million people across the UK and Ireland

Darius also took part in a local radio tour across the UK to be interviewed and showcase the song. He was interviewed on TV and in the national press too, scoring his first solo Smash Hits magazine cover to coincide with the release date.

On the week of release Darius met with thousands of fans to sign copies of their CDs, the furore of enthusiasm was so much that the signings were featured on the National News.

Darius wrote about releasing 'Colourblind' in his own words in his book 'Sink Or Swim' which was published in 2003. You can read some excerpts below:

"In late May 2002 I shot my first ever video for 'Colourblind' in Spain. We stayed in a Moorish villa in the middle of nowhere, on the edge of the Sierra Nevada mountains. It was exhilarating. I was like a kid in a candy shop. There was a helicopter, Grand Canyon-esque scenery, a vintage Mercedes-Benz and of course a breathtakingly beautiful girl. I couldn't believe that the jobs of 50 people had been created by a song I'd written.

Shooting the video was like a dream. It was a surreal experience that involved putting a machine in the middle of the desert to create rain as the sun set on the hard cracked, desert terrain. It meant being flown by helicopter to the top of a canyon and walking to the very edge of a mountainous drop with my guitar slung over my shoulder, while a helicopter panned over me. It was unforgettable.

The shoot lasted three days and on the last night the crew threw a raucous party. The following morning I awoke just as dawn was breaking. I walked onto the balcony outside my room. The view took my breath away. The Sierra Nevada drops and cliff faces were stooped before me; to the left of me an elegant Moorish temple towered on top of a foothill, set against a stunning backdrop of snow capped mountains.

Far off in the distance I could see a picture-postcard village, whitewashed and staggered against the horizon. To my right a vast expanse of corn fields. As the sun rose, it touched the tips of the corn heads, making them sparkle and with the wind's caress they were glittering like a golden ocean. I looked left again. The full moon looked down on the exquisite scenery. It was as if heaven had fallen from the sky.

The experience was almost too much for me. It was so beautiful that I just stood there and cried. Thank you God, I am so lucky, I thought. I desperately wanted to share it with my family. It was a glimpse at something greater than I could imagine. I didn't know if I fully deserved to experience it.

For all the hard work that I had put into my career, I was at the very beginning. Although so many people were saying 'well done' to me, and in some ways signing a record deal had felt like crossing the finishing line, seeing this scene reminded me that I'd only just started the race."

"It was a childhood dream to appear on Top Of The Pops. I had watched so many great performances on it over the years, and I couldn’t help thinking about my favourites as I made my way to the Top Of The Pops studios. 'Karma Chameleon' by Culture Club, Madonna's 'Holiday’ and Wham singing “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go’. I had also been entranced by the sight of Kylie bouncing around in a shoulder fit top and big hoop earrings to 'I Should Be So Lucky' I think joined a nation of young boys at the time who dreamed that she might babysit for them one day!

No longer on a student budget, I was finally able to wear the clothes that I'd always wanted to wear. I decided on ripped-up denims and a designer shirt for my first Top Of The Pops appearance. Then the director asked me to start the song with my back to the audience. Well, that's a bit boring, I thought.

A few minutes later I walked past a guy painting in the hall. Suddenly, I had an idea. I had recently been referred to as an 'underdog' by a fan and I liked it. I asked the painter if I could borrow his paintbrush, then lay my expensive shirt on the ground and scrawled underdog on the back. I didn't think anyone would notice.

Performing ‘Colourblind’ on Top Of The Pops was a dream come true. And I was petrified. I think I sang the wrong lyric on the second verse.

Everyone cheered. As we performed the first run-through, there was a technical problem but they let us play to the end of the song because the crowd were really going. There was more cheering when I was asked to play it again. It made me tingle. Nobody told me it feels so good.

‘Colourblind' was no longer simply about the colours of the emotions that you go through when you're in a relationship. It reflected the colours of emotions that I'd experienced on my journey through the highs and lows. I remembered feeling black and blue, feeling jaded. Suddenly the lines ‘You’re the light, you’re the light when I close my eyes’ took on a different meaning. After so much darkness, the light was so bright it was almost blinding.

I was finally doing what I’d always dreamed of and people were supporting me. They thought I was an alright guy. Thinking about it gave me a sensory overload. I was blown away, even though I didn’t know then that in the press the next day, people would see the slogan on my shirt and like it, or that eventually Colourblind would go on to sell 350,000 copies and be one of the radio hits of the year."

"‘Colourblind' was released on 29th July. I decided to spend the weekend with my parents in Glasgow because I wanted to be with them when the new chart was announced on the Sunday evening. I didn't think I had much chance of getting to number one because Gareth had been riding high at the top of the charts with 'Anyone Of Us (Stupid Mistake) and his sales were huge. So I was speechless when my manager Nick called me and told me that Colourblind had reached the top of the charts, out-selling its nearest rival at least twice over. Then I screamed. I took some deep breaths and tried to calm myself down. I didn't want my family to find out until Foxy announced it on radio.

My parents and brothers went mad when Foxy finally said those unforgettable words: "Colourblind" by Darius is the UK's new number one!”

They screamed and shouted and whooped. Meanwhile I was totally drenched and freezing cold. I couldn't believe that I hadn't heard Cyrus creep up behind me. But it didn't stop me celebrating and by the time we'd finished hugging and dancing around the garden, we were all completely exhausted!"