The Beautiful South were an English pop group formed at the end of the 1980s by former members of Hull group The Housemartins - Paul Heaton and Dave Hemingway. The duo who had provided vocals for "Hull's 4th best band" were joined by Sean Welch (bass), Dave Stead (drums) and Dave Rotheray (guitar). Rotheray and Heaton co-wrote the band's compositions. They broke up in January 2007, claiming the split was due to "musical similarities".[1], having sold 15,000,000 records worldwide.