Peter Cunnah, the Northern Irish frontman for D:Ream, whose ’90s dance hits “U R the Best Thing” and “Things Can Only Get Better” became international hits and also found an audience on the U.S. dance charts, is turning 60 today, Aug. 30.
Showing no signs of slowing down, the singer-songwriter released his latest album, Do It Anyway, last year, but the road to 60 has been anything but smooth.
From meteoric pop success, a detour through addiction, then complete withdrawal from music before his triumphant return, Cunnah’s journey has been one of high highs and low lows. But it’s one he hasn’t shied away from sharing.
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“I’d forgotten that when you get in a room with your friends, count to four and start playing, the religion of that moment is wonderful,” Cunnah told The Line of Best Fit in August 2025 about his time back in the studio. “You’re spiritual, you’re in communication, you’re in the joy zone.”
Cunnah’s story took a dark turn at the height of his success in the 1990s. In fact, following D:Ream’s split and the fading limelight, he was swept up in a destructive addiction to drugs and alcohol, which escalated to its worst point in 1997.
“I was watching things going on around me,” he said on the Field of Dreams podcast, per The Irish Sun. “I was turning on the TV, and I’m seeing Robbie [Williams, who toured with D:Ream when he was a member of Take That] with my haircut, my mic technique, and the frock coat singing ‘Let Me Entertain You.’ And for a moment there, I thought it was me.”
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The two share similar facial features, styling, and swaggering frontman energy, so the story is easy to understand. But the lost grip on reality was actually what caused Cunnah to enter rehab.
“Eventually, you can get to a stage in your usage where the drugs are not working; you’re taking more to try and feel normal. And that’s bizarre,” he said. “I came out of that by just getting clean and going into rehab.”
Before the crash, Cunnah was riding high.
In the early ’90s, Cunnah met DJ Al Mackenzie in London’s club scene, Songfacts reported, and the two musicians formed the British dance-pop group D:Ream around the combination of Cunnah’s songwriting and Mackenzie’s dance-music sensibilities. Before launching officially, they had built up buzz through hyped appearances and remix work for major acts including EMF and Duran Duran.
In 1992, they made their D:Ream debut with “U R the Best Thing,” boosted by a famous remix from DJ Sasha. The song initially peaked at No. 72 on the U.K. singles chart before later reissues propelled it to No. 19 and, ultimately, No. 4.
A year later, they released “Things Can Only Get Better” to modest success. But after they landed a supporting gig with Take That on their massive U.K. tour, the track was remixed and re-released. It was that remix that shot to No. 1 in the U.K, stayed there for four weeks, helping elevate their debut studio album, D:Ream On Volume 1, toward platinum status.
“It was 11 years to overnight success,” Cunnah told MusicRadar.
The group rode the momentum with 1995’s World, which peaked at No. 5 on the U.K. Official Albums Chart. During their peak era, D:Ream secured a string of Top 40 hits, including “Shoot Me With Your Love” and “Take Me Away.” In 1997, they got another surprise, this time from the political world.
When the U.K. Labor Party adopted “Things Can Only Get Better” as its official theme song for Tony Blair’s successful general election campaign, the track was transformed from a dance banger into a historical political anthem.
“When you make a song, and it becomes big, people take hold of it, and you can’t control it,” Cunnah told The Line. “So in three decades, it’s gone from being a club come-together song, to a love song, to a protest song. I like that, because people will come and tell you they played it at their wedding. It’s even become a ‘Get well soon‘ song–people ask for it on hospital radio!”
Today, Cunnah remains active in the music world. In addition to the release of Do It Anyway, he’s performed several shows, including the iconic Glastonbury. It looks like things really did get better. Here’s to a happy and healthy 60th!
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