Mike Stevens (saxophonist)
British musician
Michael William Stevens (born 26 January 1957) is an English musician. He is best known as Take That's musical director.
Biography
Born in Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, Stevens began music lessons on the clarinet and piano and was encouraged by his father, a professional drummer. Stevens studied composing and conducting at the Birmingham School of Music between 1975 and 1979 before working on cruise ships as a "performer". In the 1980s, he moved to London and became a sought-after saxophonist; he was signed to RCA Records in the United States and began touring with artists such as Barry White, Brenda Russell, Dionne Warwick and the Temptations. In the late 1980s to the early 1990s, he was part of the dance music trio L.A. Mix, whose seven singles all charted on the UK Singles Chart. In 1988, he toured with Bill Withers, eventually becoming Withers's musical director.
In 1992, Stevens was hired to work with newly formed pop group Take That, becoming their musical director the following year. He toured with the group until their split in 1996, playing keyboards, saxophone and guitar as well as providing backing vocals. His work with Take That made him an in-demand musical director for other touring pop groups; he subsequently directed Eurythmics, Mika, Sugababes, James Morrison, Will Young, Geri Halliwell, Boyzone, B*Witched, 911 and Five.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Mike Stevens (saxophonist)” as british musician. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the people & ideas register because the source frames it as british musician. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Chronology provides the most reliable spine for this subject; interpretation should follow only after identities and dates are secure. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 29, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q16943343. VIAF identifies the subject as 73051376. The Library of Congress control number is n92065842. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1957, 1975, 1979 and 1988.
Public reputation and documentary evidence do not always develop together; absence from a summary is not evidence of historical absence. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Mike Stevens (saxophonist)” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.