Richard Abidin Breen, known professionally as Abz Love and born June 29, 1979, is an English singer, songwriter, and rapper. He attended Cardinal Pole Catholic School and won a scholarship to the Italia Conti Stage School, where he studied acting. In 1997, he auditioned for a new boy band assembled by Simon Cowell, joining the group Five under the stage name Abs to avoid confusion with bandmate Ritchie Neville. Five achieved international success, selling over 20 million records worldwide, and won a Brit Award for Best Pop Act in 2000. After the band split on September 27, 2001, he signed as a solo artist and released the debut studio album Abstract Theory (2003), which reached number 29 on the UK Albums Chart. The album produced three top-ten UK singles: “What You Got” (2002) at number 4, “Stop Sign” (2003) at number 10, and “Miss Perfect” (2003) featuring Nodesha at number 5. Following a hiatus, he adopted the stage name Abz Love and returned to television in 2013, appearing on The Big Reunion and becoming the runner-up on Celebrity Big Brother 12. He also starred in the documentary series Country Strife: Abz on the Farm (2015). In 2019, he joined the supergroup Boyz on Block, which released a cover of East 17's song “Stay Another Day” on November 20, 2020. On February 24, 2025, he announced his return to Five.
