Gold: Greatest Hits (Steps album)

Steps announced the release of their greatest hits album in May 2001. Shortly after, rumours started surfacing that the group would be splitting up following the release, although these rumours were continuously denied by the group during TV shows and interviews. While discussing the rumours during an interview with whereitsat.tv, band member Lisa Scott-Lee stated "I've got to be honest when I was growing up and I had a lot of my favourite bands bring out greatest hits I thought that, that was the end and "That's their final album" and I'm sure a lot of kids think that and a lot of other people but it's not the case we've actually got lots more albums in the pipeline, we're actually song writing right now for the greatest hits and the fourth album after that, so you know we haven't actually discussed splitting up so I don't see why other people should".

The album was released on 15 October 2001 in the UK.

Gold: Greatest Hits consists of all the singles that Steps released, except for "You'll Be Sorry". It is notable that the single was not included on the compilation, although "Here and Now" was included. Four new tracks including "Chain Reaction" were featured on the album. A song called "Only in My Dreams" was written by the five members of the group with long-time collaborator Frampton, and was the only song from the album not to be released as a single or to be performed live.

The US version was released under the name The Best of Steps. The version of "One for Sorrow" on this album is the original mix, not the US Mix. The US version of the album features three singles that were not released in the US—"Better Best Forgotten", "Chain Reaction", and "Words Are Not Enough". This version of the album did not include all of Steps' singles.

Two weeks after the album was released it reached number one in the UK Albums Chart and spent two weeks at the top of the chart. It has sold over a million copies, giving the album a certification of x4 Platinum.

To support the release of the album the group embarked on their fifth concert tour (Gold Tour) on 24 November 2001. The tour ended on 22 December 2001 and it was revealed on the TV show Steps Reunion that band members H and Claire had announced their resignation to the rest of the group two hours before going on stage for the last show. Lisa and Faye stated that the concert was difficult to perform, while Lee said that he felt the concert cheated the audience.