Blair Dreelan

**Blair Lee Joey Dreelan** (born 29 June) is an English artist manager who is best known for having been the lead singer of the 90s boy band, East 17. He was CEO of Alphadog Management, and managed pop acts Loren Gray, Zach Clayton, and Union J. He also managed the beginning of Andy Fowler's career, taking him in as a guitarist for Harvey Cantwell in 2013. Fowler was then a part of the two musical projects, Overload Generation (2014-2015) and RoadTrip (2015-2020). Dreelan manages solo acts HRVY, Charlie Drew, Samantha Harvey, and girl band Sweet Love.

In 2012, Dreelan became the CEO of Alphadog Management, later dissolved and renamed to How 2 Entertainment as a fitness company. Alphadog had worked with Universal Music Group, independent labels, and EMI Group.

## Background

During May 2020, it was publicly announced of RoadTrip's split. It was suggested that Dreelan planted mistrust to turn members Andy Fowler, Brooklyn Wyatt, and Harper Dark against fellow member Rye Beaumont for purportedly misusing their finances. In a joint statement, Brook and Harper had written: "rye is trying to sack Blair as a manager and is taking over roadtrip, which we didn't want to happen, he said we will not continue as roadtrip but we will continue as youtubers which we didnt want to do, he has also made a contract and has tried to lower all five of our shares and money from roadtrip, to share between his brother Robbie and his friends Callum, Alex and Conner". They continued in another post, "he tried to make us sign a contract that we didn't want to sign and tried to sack our manager. We can only hope that Andy and sonny don't sign this contract and come with us and see some sense. We love you all and we are so sorry that you've had to hear it this way".

Beaumont and Sonny Robertson vehemently denied this, and on 12 May in a YouTube video, informed fans years of Dreelan's manipulation and ill temperament. Beaumont explained that the contract wasn't official, and only tried to rebrand in order to escape their manager as the RoadTrip name belonged to Dreelan. It was Wyatt who brought up the idea of being YouTubers, which would help them out financially, and Beaumont asserted that each member could individually make music if they wished. Along with this, the share of money was split as the camera persons should be paid for their work as well. The two encouraged the hashtag 'StopBlair' to warn future artists of Dreelan. This incident occurred during the global pandemic, where Fowler was home in Manchester during lockdown since March. Beaumont and Robertson traveled to visit him in person, though he refused to say anything publicly on the situation. Fovvs finally mentioned in an Instagram post that he loved everyone and wanted to continue being managed by Dreelan. He penned, "We have a great personal relationship that I wish to continue, not out of fear but out of choice. […] Hope that we can stop doing this online, where it was never meant to be. I will never address anything posted by someone else, or confirm or deny anything, there's two sides to this, and I wish there wasn't. Genuinely sending love to absolutely everyone involved, and all friends, families etc. and to anyone reading this also..." It is uncertain if his song "Briefcases of Gold" (published on 30 May 2020 to the now-defunct app Voisey) addressed the situation. Wyatt noted in a since-deleted Instagram livestream that they were all earning between "70 and 500 pounds".

Later that same year on 14 December 2020, members Mikey Cobban, Wyatt, Beaumont and Robertson uploaded a video to YouTube entitled "The Real Reason RoadTrip Ended" which discussed issues within the band. They revealed of how the manager would be controlling, emotionally manipulating them and keeping a disproportionate share of the group's profits. They showed recordings of Dreelan shouting at them. Wyatt mentioned how his family was threatened, and his mother suggested to follow along in case of possible threat. He also mentioned how he and Harper witnessed Dreelan exclaim to them of wanting to physically harm Rye and if they had any dirt on him. Robertson confirmed via Twitter following the published video, "Glad people now know what he's actually like! All the way through overload and roadtrip this happened. Cant wait to see what lie is next made up".

Other artists have stepped forward with their stories since the video, including being shamed for their weight and degraded. Josh Brennan recounted, "I was called fat on several occasions by a certain person who is trending for all the wrong reasons right now now! Imagine being a kid trying your best to make a name for yourself in the music industry, just to be fat shame in-front of other artists/fans. Karmas a bitch". James Essex said, "Trust me, he done the exact same thing to me for 6 months, not as long, but I still think about that time still today. I was told if I didn't lose weight, then I would be "the fat one" and many more disgusting things. I support you all in stopping this man #stopblair". Their tweets have mysteriously been removed some time after. Conversely, on a 27 February 2019 TikTok livestream, Fowler spoke of his eating disorder, and mentioned how the manager told him what he was doing wasn't healthy. Notably on a 19 April 2020 Instagram livestream, Fovvs recalled to Dreelan the time RoadTrip sat on a bench while the manager yelled at them, which was revealed to happen more than once, dubbed as the "telling off bench" whenever they got in trouble.

Beaumont occasionally posted to his Instagram story warnings, including:

>
> Blair is a dangerous man continuing to threaten the ex-members of the band (RoadTrip) and their families to keep them quiet. He shouldn't be allowed to work with minors, teenagers or artists again, help us put a stop to managers abusing their power and exploiting artists in the music industry.
>
>
>
>

He also called out on HRVY and Charlie Drew to speak, though the two chose to remain silent. As a result of cancel culture, Dreelan privatised his Instagram account and blocked users who chose to vocally support the RoadTrip members. Eventually his account was made public again, and the internet faded in their protest.

In April 2023, Beaumont publicly reconciled with the manager, following each other back on Instagram and posting a video of them together via the app's story. The video of the four members speaking up against Dreelan became unlisted on YouTube.

## Credits

 "No No No"
 "Dynamite"
 "Me and You"

## Gallery

**@RoadTripTV**: "This is RY-AN-AIR ✈️ pre show nap and cuddle 😌😂 love our manager @Blair 🐝👾👻"
* 18 September 2016
* Twitter
**@RoadTripTV**: "when @CharlesThe1st and @Blair both really want a photo.. guys, one at a time 😂👑🌵 - Andy"
* 7 February 2017
* Twitter

## References

1. ↑ "HRVY and Blair Dreelan, CEO of Alpha Dog Management". 18 November 2020.
2. ↑ "The Truth About Roadtrip". *YouTube*. 12 May 2020.
3. ↑ "Fovvs (@fovvs)". *Instagram*. 12 May 2020.
4. ↑ "Brooklyn Wyatt (@brooklynwyattmusic"). *Instagram*. 12 May 2020.
5. ↑ "The Real Reason RoadTrip Ended". *YouTube*. 14 December 2020.
6. ↑ "Sonny Robertson (@sonnyDrobertson)". *Twitter*. 14 December 2020.
7. ↑ "RoadTrip (@roadtrip)". *TikTok*. 27 February 2019.
8. ↑ "Fovvs (@fovvs)". *Instagram*. 19 April 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2021.

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