Charles & Eddie's Eddie Chacon: 'It took me 10 years to recover from being a one-hit wonder'

The soulful singer had a worldwide hit with 1992's Would I Lie to You, but he was dropped and his musical partner died. Now, he has poured his pain into a cathartic comeback album

Eddie Chacon still remembers hitting rock bottom. It was 15 years ago," he says. And it sounds like something from like a bad movie." Since childhood, he would get up at 8am and work on music. That morning, my wife walked into my studio and I was just sitting there. She asked, What's wrong?' I just said, Nobody's listening.' I turned everything off, walked out, and I never went back for 10 years."

It's a warm summer's morning in Los Feliz, Los Angeles and Chacon is sitting in the bright, white study of his 1930s Spanish-style casita and talking about his new album, Pleasure, Joy and Happiness. If you know Chacon's name it's most likely as one half of early 90s US duo Charles & Eddie, who were No 1 for two weeks in 1992 with the sweet neo-soul pleader Would I Lie to You. Eddie was the androgynously handsome Latino one with the hoop earrings and the mane of thick, dark black hair halfway down his back. He sang the Marvin-meets-Jacko falsetto parts and those little cries of Oh yeah!"