AS The Sun’s Bizarre Editor, I have to listen to plenty of dross claiming to be music – from established artists as well as wannabes.
And to be honest, that is what I was expecting from Cruz Beckham, the youngest son of Posh and Becks.
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Overproduced, overegged and underwhelming.
But after the young singer-guitarist leaked a 38-second snippet of his first proper tune, the self-penned For Ya Love, I realised I couldn’t have been more wrong.
And as Cruz, 20, ramps up his music career — with talk of a debut single on the horizon, and an album he is now working on — I reckon this member of the Beckham clan could go on to become a star in his own right.
His brother Romeo, 22, is jacking in football, after spells at Brentford reserves and in the US, to return to modelling where he did childhood work for Burberry.
Eldest sibling Brooklyn, 26, has chopped and changed careers — from barista, photographer and food-and-drink entrepreneur to, most recently, Formula E driver — more than his Goldenballs dad David switched hairstyles in the Noughties.
But in contrast Cruz — pictured this month at Paris Fashion Week with glamorous Brazilian singer-songwriter Jackie Apostel, 29 — is resolutely sticking to his music.
Insiders tell me his determination to make it big as an authentic original is born out of the fact he, unlike his brothers, has actually found his calling.
Guitar-led grunge
One well-placed source tells me: “Cruz’s music, what he’s coming up with, sounds fresh and exciting.
“He always wanted to go into music and has properly honed his craft.
“Nothing has ever been rushed with Cruz and that’s testament to how serious he and his team are about launching his career.
“His older brothers have chopped and changed over what they want to do but for Cruz it has always been about the music.
“Cruz knows his name will stick and he wants to be taken seriously as an artist.
“That is why his team is taking the time to make sure everything is perfect.”
Back in December he gave the public a taste of what’s to come with a 38-second tease of his song For Ya Love on social media.
In the song, I hear influence from Britpop rockers Oasis and Blur mixed with a tinge of Sixties-style psychedelia — and it’s promising.
Easy-to-listen-to electric-guitar riffs compliment Cruz’s vocal — a sort of less nasal Liam Gallagher with the silkiness of Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds.
Cruz’s imminent solo launch has been a long time in the making.
Aged just 11, in 2016 he recorded and released a charity single, If Every Day Was Christmas and, bitten by the music bug, he went on to hone his craft.
Cruz taught himself to play drums, piano and even the mandolin as he started writing songs and the music to go with them.
My insider adds: “Cruz has proper musicality and was keen to understand instruments and how to write music, not just songs.
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“Although he was young, Cruz knew he didn’t want to just have someone else write a song for him that he would then perform.
“He wanted to live and breathe the music.”
His older brothers have chopped and changed over what they want to do but for Cruz it has always been about the music
Source
Initially, the plan of those working with Cruz was to make the fresh-faced teen the UK’s version of Justin Bieber, my insiders say.
In 2021, he worked with music legend Biff Stannard, who wrote hits for Cruz’s mum Victoria’s band, Spice Girls, including Spice Up Your Life and Mama.
With his music heading in a pop direction, a year later he signed to Tap Music Management, who have helped launch the careers of some of the UK’s biggest stars including Dua Lipa and Ellie Goulding.
Under their guidance, he started working with American producer Poo Bear, who wrote some of Canadian superstar Bieber’s biggest songs including What Do You Mean? and Yummy.
At the time, Cruz confirmed they had been working together and said he had been writing about “personal experiences”.
He added: “We’ve just been in the studio a few times and made some songs together.”
That year, he performed for family and friends at the Lore Of The Land pub, owned by film director Guy Ritchie, in London’s Fitzrovia.
Proud mum Victoria filmed him singing and playing guitar, and posted the video online.
As Cruz turned 18, insiders said the music he started working on started to shift from punchy pop to being more grunge and guitar-led.
He listened to a lot of old Oasis and songs by The Beatles. Cruz’s ability to play guitar had become more impressive, too, thanks to hours of practice
Insider
My insider reveals: “He listened to a lot of old Oasis and songs by The Beatles.
“Cruz’s ability to play guitar had become more impressive, too, thanks to hours of practice.”
I then told last May how Cruz had switched management, from Tap to C3 — who steered the careers of US indie-rockers The Strokes.
My source adds: “The move was organic.
“Cruz left Tap on good terms and chose C3 because they had roots in rock, with acts like [American band] Thirty Seconds To Mars.
“He has been thriving and his music is only getting better.”
Cruz has also started writing with some new faces, including Luke Pritchard, frontman of Brit indie-rockers The Kooks.
The pair bonded over their love of the Bee Gees and have been writing together in the studio for Cruz’s debut album.
My insider says: “Cruz has so many songs and he’s still writing lyrics and music.
“It’s a constant process for him.
“He is in and out of the studio with Luke, and then will be working on music at home.
“Cruz has hundreds of songs but, with the guidance of his team, is now moving towards putting together a proper collection of tracks which not only sound the best but are authentic to him as a musician.”
Mum’s 50th birthday
At Victoria’s 50th birthday party in May, Cruz proudly got up on stage along with his mum and her Spice Girls bandmates Emma Bunton, Mel C, Geri Horner and Mel B, for a song.
He was seen strumming an acoustic guitar as they sang the band’s 1996 hit Mama.
Sharing the video online later, Cruz joked with fans of the Spice Girls, saying: “You’re welcome.”
Seven months later, he soft-launched For Ya Love on social media, and my source tells me fans should expect a full release later this year.
They add: “The timing has to be right for Cruz and the teaser of the song went down a treat.
“He was being compared to artists including Paul McCartney and Oasis, so it was huge compliments.
He was being compared to artists including Paul McCartney and Oasis, so it was huge compliments
Source
“But it’s not undeserved.
“The songs that Cruz has created are genuinely very good and it’s all down to his hard work and his dedication to his music.”
Strumming his guitar in the video, Cruz also looks confident as a frontman and has worked on his stage swagger.
When I spoke this week to The Kooks’ Luke about the band’s new single Sunny Baby, he opened up about working with Cruz and said he was keen to help raise Cruz’s profile in the industry.
Luke, 40, told me: “He’s naturally going to come under criticism because of who his parents are.
“He’s aware of that.”
But he also laughed about Cruz’s response after critics took aim following the Beckham lad’s sharing of For Ya Love, telling him any success he had would be thanks to his England footie great dad and mum Victoria.
Luke added: “It was great when he said: ‘Jesus was a nepo baby too.’
“I thought that was a funny response.”
Humour is, indeed, one of the best ways to kill hate.
But when people finally get to listen to more of Cruz’s music, I reckon the naysayers will be eating their words.
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WHAT ARE HIS SIBLINGS UP TO?
BROOKLYN JOSEPH, 26
- BORN: March 4, 1999, at London’s Portland Hospital.
- GODPARENTS: Sir Elton John, David Furnish, Elizabeth Hurley.
- EDUCATION: Curtis and Willows Schools in LA, Parsons School of Design in New York.
- PARTNER: Married US model Nicola Peltz in April 2022.
- CAREER: Age 15, worked in London coffee shop and had brief stint with Arsenal FC Academy. Shot a photography campaign for a Burberry fragrance at age 16. Later published a book of his photos called What I See. Business ventures have included hot-sauce brand Cloud 23 and sake drink brand Wesake.
- CURRENT ROLES: Online cookery series Cookin’ With Brooklyn, and Formula E driving.
ROMEO JAMES, 22
- BORN: September 1, 2002, at London’s Portland Hospital.
- GODPARENTS: Sir Elton John, David Furnish, Elizabeth Hurley.
- EDUCATION: Wetherby Prep in London’s Notting Hill, then Millfield in Somerset.
- PARTNER: DJ Kim Turnbull.
- CAREER: Face of Burberry kids’ clothes, age ten. Football for Brentford reserves, above, and in States. Now back to modelling.
HARPER SEVEN, 13
- BORN: July 10, 2011, at Cedars- Sinai Medical Centre, LA.
- GODPARENTS: Eva Longoria and Marc Anthony.
- EDUCATION: In London, Glendower Prep in South Kensington, and now Italia Conti Academy stage school – attended by Pixie Lott and Louise Redknapp .
- CAREER: Mum Victoria registered a business called H7B to funnel Harper’s future earnings. At the October launch of Victoria’s fragrance 21:50 Reverie, Harper revealed her wish was: “Create an amazing brand when I am older.”
