Steve Davis OBE (born 22 August 1957) is an English retired professional snooker player who is currently a commentator, DJ, electronic musician and author.

He won 28 ranking titles during his career, placing him fifth on the all-time list, behind Ronnie O'Sullivan (41), Stephen Hendry (36), John Higgins (31) and Judd Trump (30).

The first player to make an officially recognised maximum break in professional competition, at the 1982 Classic, he was also the first to earn £1 million in career prize money.

Davis's terse responses in his post-match interview became the basis for a recurring caricature on the satirical British television show Spitting Image, which gave him the sardonic nickname "Interesting".

Outside snooker, Davis competed in nine-ball pool tournaments, which included representing Europe in the Mosconi Cup eleven consecutive times between 1994 and 2004.

A fan of progressive rock, he has an ongoing career as a radio broadcaster, club DJ and musician; with Kavus Torabi and Michael J. York, he co-founded the electronic music band the Utopia Strong, with which he has recorded two albums.

[18] At the 1980 World Snooker Championship he reached the quarter-finals, defeating Patsy Fagan and defending champion Terry Griffiths before losing to Alex Higgins 9–13.

[27] In January 1982, Davis compiled the first televised maximum break at the Classic at Queen Elizabeth Hall in Oldham against John Spencer.

[38] Davis retained the Classic in 1988 before claiming his second Masters title: in the final he completed a 9–0 whitewash of Mike Hallett, the only such result in the event's history.

In that year's World Championship Davis defeated Hallett 13–1, Tony Drago 13–4 and Thorburn 16–8 en route to the final, where he met Griffiths.

[61][62] He did not win a match at the 1992 World Snooker Championship, however, as he was beaten 4–10 by Peter Ebdon, the first time he had lost in the opening round in nine years.

[74] For the 1998–99 season, Davis's best result was reaching the quarter-finals at the 1998 UK Championship, the first time he had progressed past the third round in five years, but lost to Paul Hunter.

He did reach the quarter-finals of the 1999 British Open in 1999–2000,[82][83] but only won one match at the 2000 World Snooker Championship, defeating Graeme Dott, but losing to Higgins 11–13.

[99] His performances during the 2006–07 season, including reaching the 2006 UK Championship quarter-finals and the Welsh Open semi-finals, ensured that Davis was still a top-16 player at the age of 50.

[105] In the first round, Davis beat Mark King 10–9, and at 52, he was the oldest player to win a match at the Crucible since Eddie Charlton defeated Cliff Thorburn in 1989.

[106] In the second round, against defending champion John Higgins, Davis won 13–11, a win commentator Clive Everton called "the greatest upset in the 33 years the Crucible has been hosting the championship.

[110] Davis participated in the Players Tour Championship in 2010; his best result was at the Paul Hunter Classic, where he reached the quarter-finals before losing 1–4 to Shaun Murphy.

[116] He participated in the 2011–12 Players Tour Championship; his best result was in the Warsaw Classic, where he reached the semi-finals before losing 3–4 to Ricky Walden,[117] and finished at number 26 on the Order of Merit.

[129] He again participated in the Players Tour Championship; his best results were in the Kay Suzanne Memorial Trophy and the Scottish Open, where he reached the last 16 before losing 3–4 to John Higgins and 1–4 to Ding Junhui.

[134] After being beaten by Craig Steadman 8–10 in the second round of the 2014 World Snooker Championship qualification, Davis finished the season outside the top 64 on the money list and dropped off the main professional tour after 36 years.

During a live BBC broadcast on 17 April 2016, Davis announced his retirement from professional snooker, citing the recent death of his father as the main reason.

[145] Sky Sports commentator Sid Waddell gave him the nickname "Romford Slim", calling him Britain's answer to American pool player Rudolf "Minnesota Fats" Wanderone.

[3] His initial lack of emotional expression and monotonous interview style earned him a reputation as boring, and the satirical television series Spitting Image nicknamed him "Interesting".

[161] He co-authored the 1988 book How to Be Really Interesting with Geoff Atkinson, a comedy writer who had been a key part of Spitting Image's writing team.

[165][166] In 2010, Davis played himself on The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret; other television appearances include the Christmas 1981 episode of The Morecambe & Wise Show.

[189] Davis adopted "Thunder Muscle" as his stage name – the energy drink brand from the television series The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, where he played a fictional version of himself promoting the product.

[193] Davis performed with Kavus Torabi at the 2016 Glastonbury Festival;[194] their collaboration led to the formation of the Utopia Strong, an electronic music band whose debut album was released on 13 September 2019.

In September 2021, Davis appeared in a music video for a track titled "Lily" from the upcoming Richard Dawson and Circle collaborative album.

[205][206] This, along with highly lucrative off-table endorsements, both set up by Hearn, allowed him to become the United Kingdom's highest paid sportsperson in the later half of the 1980s.

[207][208] During the 2010 world championship, to mark the anniversary of the 1985 world championship final, Davis appeared with Taylor before the beginning of the first semi-final to stage a humorous re-enactment of their historic final frame; Taylor entered the arena wearing a pair of comically oversized glasses, and Davis arrived sporting a red wig.