Deacon Blue’s Ricky Ross says wife and bandmate Lorraine McIntosh is his biggest inspiration in life.
The smitten couple went from being friends and members of the Scottish pop/rock group in the ’80s, to having one of the happiest and healthiest marriages in music after they tied the knot in May 1990.
The 67-year-old lead frontman – who wrote the group’s smash hit singles, including ‘Real Gone Kid’ and ‘Fergus Sings the Blues’ – still gets Lorraine to green light tracks he has penned, and if she does not like them, they get scrapped.
When asked what it was about Lorraine that he fell in love with, Ricky told ContactMusic.com: “It’s still the same thing – she was someone who inspired me and still inspires me, I just love the way she thinks about things, she makes me laugh all the time – but she’s also gorgeous!”
Asked what her attraction to her other half was, the band’s co-vocalist added: “It’s hard to put into words what you fall in love with about someone, but I just think he’s a great person.
“I think he’s fascinating, he’s talented, he’s driven.”
Before joining the band in 1987, Lorraine watched Ricky and Deacon Blue’s original members, James Prime, Dougie Vipond, Ewen Vernal, and the late Graeme Kelling – who died in 2004 from cancer aged 47 – perform ‘Dignity’ in the Queen Margaret Union at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, and she admitted her husband’s energy left her feeling “totally inspired”.
The 60-year-old singer recalled: “I remember thinking, I want to be in that band. I want to sing that song, and I was totally inspired by the kind of energy of Ricky as a lead singer and as a frontman.
“He just had this heat-seeking missile kind of directness about him, which I think you still have.”
The loved-up couple made their declaration of love for each other more than three decades ago, and their marriage has been going strong ever since.
When asked what the secret is to a long and healthy relationship, Ricky and Lorraine – who have four children together – think it is down to pure luck to find the right person.
Lorraine said: “I think a lot of it is luck, to be honest.
“I think if you find the right person, then it’s going to work, and if you don’t find the right person, it’s not going to work.
“And, you know, we’ve had a great life, but life can be hard for a lot of people.
“That can make relationships a lot harder. You know, when poverty comes in through the window, love goes out the door; life can be hard for people.
“We’ve had a lot of good things happen to us in life, but I do think that a certain element of it is luck in the right person.”
Ricky agreed: “You just kind of know [if someone is right for you], and you have friends who have been married for a long, long time, and they’re great company and so on. And other friends that you think the relationships didn’t work out.
“So, we’re very grateful.”
Deacon Blue – which now features newcomers Gregor Philp and Lewis Gordon – are celebrating 40 years of the band in 2025 by releasing their highly anticipated 11th studio album ‘The Great Western Road’, as well as going out on two tours.
The group release ‘The Great Western Road’ on Friday, March 21 2025.
Deacon Blue 2025 tour dates:
Sunday, March 30 – Edinburgh Usher Hall
Monday, March 31 – Bradford St George’s Hall
Wednesday, April 2 – Bristol Beacon Theatre
Thursday, April 3 – Cambridge Corn Exchange
Friday, April 4 – London Shepherd’s Bush Empire
Arena Tour:
Friday, September 19 – Liverpool M+S Bank Arena
Saturday, September 20 – Brighton Centre
Monday, September 22 – Birmingham Utilita Arena
Tuesday, September 23 – Leeds FirstDirect Arena
Thursday, September 25 – Bournemouth International Centre
Friday, September 26 – Cardiff Utilita Arena
Sunday, September 28 – Nottingham Motorpoint Arena
Monday, September 29 – Sheffield Utilita Arena
Wednesday, October 1 – Manchester AO Arena
Friday, October 3 – London Wembley OVO Arena
Sunday, October 5 – Hull Connexin Live
Monday, October 6 – Newcastle-Upon-Tyne Utilita Arena
Wednesday, October 8 – Dublin 3Arena
Friday, October 10 – Glasgow Hydro
Saturday, October 11 – Glasgow Hydro