Life after 'Blue's Clues': Here's what happened to Steve Burns after his final episode in 2001
Who could ever forget Steve Burns, Blue's "first caregiver," who was always ready to figure out Blue's clues and solve problems with the help of his viewers?
Now, 25 years later, the host of Nickelodeon's Blue's Clues finally explained why he suddenly left the show—and no, he's not dead nor in jail, contrary to what some wild rumors say; he is very much alive.
But what really happened to him after his final episode in 2001? Well, a lot, actually.
Since then, the actor had been busy making music and acting. A few days ago, Burns surprised his millennial fans with a touching video explaining why he abruptly hopped on that bus and left for college.
"That was really challenging, by the way, but great because I got to use my mind and take a step at a time, and now I literally am doing many of the things that I wanted to do," he said in the video.
He also told Huffpost: "I left the show because it was just simply time to go. I was pretty much playing a boyish, older-brotherish kind of character on the show. I was getting older; I was losing my hair; a lot of the original gangsters on the show, like the people who created it, were all moving on to other careers. It just felt like time. I just had a gut feeling like it was time to go.”
If you're wondering what he's been up to since Blue's Clues, continue reading below.
He narrated another children's show
Just when you think Burns is totally over with children's shows, he works on another one. In 2006, the Daytime Emmy-nominated actor narrated an interactive children's series by Treehouse TV called Roll Play alongside Alan Ray and Charlotte Williams as the composers. The show ran for four years.
He pursued a career in music
We all know that Burns can sing (*cue: We Just Got A Letter*), but after leaving the show, he focused on his music career and released a pop rock-flavored debut album called Songs for Dustmites in 2002. The album became a critical success, in fact, one of the tracks titled Mighty Little Man is used as the theme song for the CBS TV series Young Sheldon, in which he also guest starred in one of the episodes.
Burns, however, did clarify that he did not left the Nick Jr. show for his music career. He told Huffpost, "I certainly wasn’t leaving Blue’s Clues to pursue a large music career because that never even happened. That was just a wonderful dream come true, [a] hobby thing that happened after Blue’s Clues.”
He formed a band
Burns formed two bands and an album for each. One was named Steve Burns and the Struggle, which included Steven Drozd of The Flaming Lips and Ryan Smith of A Million Billion. The trio released an album in 2009 called Deep Sea Recovery Efforts.
His third album, a psychedelic family-oriented record called Foreverywhere, was released in late 2016 under the name STEVENSTEVEN, with Drodz as well.
He starred in other TV series
Burns later moved on from acting in children's shows to shows that have more mature storylines. He played the part of a vampire in the 2007 horror-comedy film Netherbeast Incorporated, then played as an astronaut in a science fiction film from The Flaming Lips a year after, and also appeared in the YouTube comedy series The Professionals.
The former Blue's Clues actor also appeared on Law & Order, Young Sheldon, and Homicide: Life on the Street.
Photo from Steve Burns' Instagram