EastEnders newcomer Max Murray has made quite the impact since joining the BBC soap – but did you know he has a very different career away from Albert Square?
The actor, who joined as Joel Marshall in March, has been at the centre of several big storylines over the last few months.
From secretly recording himself sleeping with Avani Nandra-Hart (Aaliyah James) to introducing his naïve new mate Tommy Moon (Sonny Kendall) to pornography, the character has proved himself to be a deeply troubled young man.
To make matters worse, it soon became apparent that he had history of committing sex offences in Australia, which is why his family were forced to flee.
More recently, we’ve seen Joel purposely fall onto a tube passenger so that he could touch them inappropriately, and become Ravi Gulati’s (Aaron Thiara) latest victim when he was locked in a walk-in fridge.
However, away from the Walford drama, Max is diving into the world of music.
Alongside brother Joe and keyboard player Robert Dallas, he is lead vocalist of the band The Murray Brotherz.
The trio released their first single, Dear Amy, on 23rd July last year.
Produced by Tapster Studios, the song is a love letter to the late singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse and was released on the thirteenth anniversary of her untimely death.
The opening bars are somewhat reminiscent of the musician’s top 10 single Back to Black, which was released in 2007.
Lyrics, which were written by Joe, tell the story of someone putting on Amy’s records and mourning such a momentous loss to the music industry, questioning her drug abuse and finding comfort in her songs.
Upon the release of his single, Max’s mum – the former soap star and musical theatre actress Gina Murray – wrote on X: ‘Delighted and proud to announce my boys’ amazing original track, DEAR AMY, commemorating the anniversary of Amy Winehouse’s passing.’
In the comments section of the music video on YouTube, one fan said: ‘Okay so that’s acting and singing ticked off. Add dancing next to become a legit triple threat. Max has that X Factor!’‘What an amazing voice for one so young! This lad has a future in song. Good luck with your endeavours,’ said another.
A third added: ‘Nobody came over here from Eastenders?’, to which a fourth replied: ‘I did!’
The video shows Max sparring in a boxing ring, intercut with shots of him sat on a bench with a ghostly Winehouse lookalike lay across his lap.
