Their best-known line-up consisted of lead vocalist Brian Connolly, bassist Steve Priest, guitarist Andy Scott and drummer Mick Tucker.

In his autobiography Are You Ready Steve, Priest says Gordon Fairminer was approached to play for them when Torpey decided to leave The Sweet after a gig at Playhouse Theatre, Walton-on-Thames, on 5 July 1969 but turned the job down as he wanted to concentrate on other interests.

Connolly and Tucker had a chance meeting with Wainman, who was now producing, and knew of two aspiring songwriters, Nicky Chinn and Mike Chapman, who were looking for a group to sing some demos they had written.

on Top of the Pops Christmas edition, Priest aroused complaints after he appeared replete in a German military uniform, Hitler moustache and displaying a swastika armband.

Priest and Scott filled in on lead vocals on some tracks ("No You Don't", "Into The Night" and "Restless") and Connolly, under treatment from a Harley Street specialist, managed to complete the album.

One track, "The Man with the Golden Arm", written by Elmer Bernstein and Sylvia Fine for the 1955 Frank Sinatra movie of the same name, featured drummer Mick Tucker performing an 8 and half minute solo (although this was not included in the US release).

[citation needed] January 1976 saw the release of the single "The Lies In Your Eyes", which made the Top 10 in Germany, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Australia, but only reached No.

By the end of the Japanese shows Connolly's extremely hoarse singing voice was manifest evidence of the demands of constant touring and the enduring after-effects of his 1974 assault.

The first Polydor album, Level Headed (January 1978), found Sweet experimenting by combining rock and classical sounds "a-la clavesin", an approach similar to Electric Light Orchestra's, and featured the single "Love Is Like Oxygen".

The tour included a disastrous date in Birmingham, Alabama on 3 May, during which visiting Capitol Records executives in the audience saw Brian Connolly give a drunken and incoherent performance that terminated early in the set with his collapse on stage, leaving the rest of the group to play on without him.

[citation needed] The band returned briefly to Britain before resuming the second leg of their US tour in late May supporting other acts, including Foghat and Alice Cooper.

[citation needed] In late October, having spent further time at Clearwell Castle to write for their next album, Sweet arrived at The Town House studio in Shepherd's Bush, London to complete and record Cut Above the Rest (April 1979).

[citation needed] Andy Scott and Mick Tucker organised their own version of Sweet with Paul Mario Day (ex-Iron Maiden, More, Wildfire) on lead vocals, Phil Lanzon (ex-Grand Prix) on keyboards and Mal McNulty on bass.

The band performed at the Marquee Club in London in February 1986, with the shows recorded and gaining release a few years later, bolstered by four new studio tracks including a cover of the Motown standard "Reach Out I'll Be There".

Malcolm Pearson and then Ian Gibbons (who had played with The Kinks and The Records) both filled in for Lanzon until Steve Mann (Liar, Lionheart, McAuley Schenker Group) arrived in December 1989.

Three drummers, Andy Hoyler, Bobby Andersen and Bruce Bisland (Weapon, Wildfire, Praying Mantis), provided short-term relief before Bodo Schopf (McAuley Schenker Group) took over.

[citation needed] In 1996 Mann left to take a job in television and Gibbons came back for a short time before Steve Grant (ex-The Animals) became the permanent keyboardist.

New singer Mark Thompson Smith (ex-Praying Mantis) joined in November 2005 for some Swedish gigs, while Jo Burt (ex-Black Sabbath) was temporary bass player.

"[6] On the eve of their March 2012 "Join Together" tour of Australia, the band undertook an acoustic performance of three tracks, "New York Groove-Empire State of Mind", "Blockbuster" and "Peppermint Twist", in front of a live audience at ABC Radio Studios in East Perth.

Manzi played guitar, keyboard and undertook lead vocals on "Set Me Free" and "AC-DC" as the band performed shows in regional centres, including outback Western Australia, Darwin and far-north Queensland, NSW and Victoria during February and March.

[citation needed] In 2017 after Andy undertook an Australian visit with Suzi Quatro and Don Powell in the side outfit known as QSP, Sweet was again booked for an extensive European tour.

[citation needed] In January 2009, Sweet presented at the concert industry's Pollstar Awards, and also played a short set at the Nokia Theatre where the event was held, marking the first time in the ceremony's history that a band performed at the show.

US festivals have included Minnesota's Halfway Jam, Rockin' the Rivers in Montana (with Pat Travers and Peter Frampton), and two late-summer shows at the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.

[citation needed] Beginning with the band's October 2012 appearance at the Festival Internacional Chihuahua in Mexico, Los Angeles-based guitarist Ricky Z. teamed up with Steve Priest and company for their live performances.

Singer Joe Retta was unavailable for these dates due to a scheduling conflict, so Tribe of Gypsies frontman Chas West, who has played with Jason Bonham's band and has experience subbing with Foreigner, Lynch Mob and Diamond Head, stepped in to man the microphone for a series of shows in New York, New Jersey and Maryland.

[citation needed] Most recently on tour with Lita Ford, Mitch's other credentials included his work with Michael Schenker Group, Asia Featuring John Payne, Edgar Winter, Billy Sheehan and David Lee Roth His first live appearance with Sweet was at the Rock the River festival in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on 23 August 2014.

After some final personnel adjustments, Sweet’s line-up has been intact for the last several years: Stevie Stewart (Bass/Vocals), Richie Onori (Drums), Jimmy Burkard (Guitar), Dave Schultz (Keys/Vocals), and lead vocalist and front man Patrick Alan Stone.

Reworked studio versions of "Action" and "The Ballroom Blitz" were recorded, but it became clear that Connolly's voice and physical health had made Sweet's original member comeback too difficult to promote commercially.

[citation needed] Brian Connolly died at the age of 51 on 9 February 1997, from liver failure and repeated heart attacks, attributed to his abuse of alcohol in the 1970s and early 1980s.

Recent shows by the current lineup include The Bowl at Sobeys Stadium in Toronto with UB40 and Bachman Turner Overdrive, Shake the Lake Classic Rock Festival https://shakethelakeregina.ca/, The Golden Nugget (Atlantic City, Las Vegas, The Coach House, The Bourbon Room in Hollywood, CA, and have an upcoming tour in South America in 2025 with Nazareth.