Sugababes
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Sugababes | ||
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| Background information | ||
| Origin |  London, England |
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| Genre(s) | Pop, R&B | |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals | |
| Years active | 1998-Present | |
| Label(s) | London (1998-2001) Island (2001-Present) |
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| Website | Sugababes Official Site | |
| Members | ||
| Keisha Buchanan (1998-) Heidi Range (2001-) Amelle Berrabah (2005-) |
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| Former members | ||
| Siobhán Donaghy (1998-2001) Mutya Buena (1998-2005) |
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The Sugababes are a girl band that formed in London, England in 1998. They have released seventeen singles that have reached the top 40 charts worldwide, including four UK number one singles. They have also had four UK top five albums, Angels With Dirty Faces, Three, and the UK number 1 album Taller in More Ways. They have also won a Brit Award for "Best Dance Act" and in 2006 were rewarded a Guinness World Record for "Biggest Female Act of the Century".
Sugababes have sold over 2.7 million albums and 1.8 million singles in the UK [1]. They were also the first pop group ever to grace the main stage of Glastonbury in 2003.
Contents |
[edit] History
[edit] One Touch
Keisha Buchanan and Mutya Buena were childhood friends in London, England and met Siobhan Donaghy when they were thirteen. Buchanan's family is from Barbados while Buena's mother is Irish and father is Filipino. The trio made a decision to form a band in 1998. London Records decided to offer the group a contract when the girls were fourteen and brought in Cameron McVey, to work on their debut album.
The first debut single "Overload" made the UK top 10 and was nominated for a Brit Award. The group wrote some of the tracks on One Touch, their debut album which had three more top 40 hits in the UK - "New Year", "Run for Cover" and "Soul Sound". However, sales of One Touch did not meet London Records' expectations, especially considering the amount of acclaim the debut album had received, and it led to them dropping the band in 2001. During a Japanese tour Siobhan Donaghy left the band when she was diagnosed with clinical depression amid reports of in-fighting between the Sugababes members [2].
[edit] Angels With Dirty Faces
Heidi Range was announced as Donaghy's replacement, and the trio signed a new record contract with Island Records, having impressed them with the new material they were worked on. Sugababes' second album, Angels With Dirty Faces was then released. Their first single on the new label, "Freak Like Me", was produced by Richard X, who was worked in a studio nearby and asked the girls to lend vocals to his pop song that used a sample from "Are Friends Electric?" by Gary Numan's Tubeway Army with the girls performing lyrics taken from Adina Howard's "Freak Like Me". His original mix of the song had been released on white label entitled "Are Freaks Electric?"
"Freak Like Me" helped the group to break into the mainstream, featuring a dark, sexy music video showing Heidi's introduction into the band, and debuting at number one in the UK and number two in Ireland in 2002, making their first ever top spot in the UK. The single went top ten in many European countries and made the top 40 in New Zealand, Netherlands, Norway, and Belgium. Their second single with Range, "Round Round", produced by Kent-based production group, Xenomania, was the group's second UK number one single and went to number two in Ireland, Netherlands and New Zealand.
On the back of the hits, Sugababes' second album Angels With Dirty Faces debuts at number two on the UK album chart and was a hit all over Europe. The third single from the album, a ballad entitled "Stronger", went top ten in Netherlands and Norway, and the double A-side of "Stronger" and the album's title track, "Angels With Dirty Faces," the main song to The Powerpuff Girls Movie, went top ten in the UK and top 30 in New Zealand in late 2002. The fourth single "Shape," which samples the Sting track, "Shape Of My Heart," made number eleven in the UK and had moderate success in Netherlands and Ireland in early 2003. The B-side features the version of "Freak Like Me" performed at the Brit Awards, where they won the award for "Best British Dance Act". Their success also lead to a song that had not been included on Angels With Dirty Faces, entitled "Party In The Club," being used as the main song to ITV's teenaged drama show Girls In Love based on the book of the same name by Jacqueline Wilson.
[edit] Three
The group's third album Three was released in late 2003 and continued success reaching number three on the UK Album Chart, preceded by the Xenomania produced "Hole In The Head". It was the band's third UK number one single and their first number one in Denmark. It reached number two in Ireland, Netherlands and Norway, went top 10 in Germany, top 30 in Australia and also hit the US Billboard Hot 100 charting at #96 and the US Billboard Dance Chart charting at #1. The second single "Too Lost In You," which appeared on the soundtrack to the film Love Actually and was written by Diane Warren, went top ten in the UK, Germany, Netherlands and Norway, as well as going top ten on both sides of the Straits of Taiwan (Taiwan and China). The song was originally recorded in French by Patricia Kaas and entitled "Quand J'ai Peur De Tout." The album's third single, "In The Middle," hit the UK top ten, as well as entering the top twenty in Ireland and top forty in Europe and Australia. The fourth single to be released from "Three" was the ballad, "Caught In A Moment," which made it to number eight in the UK, backed by tracks recorded from their Sessions@AOL appearance.
In 2004, the trio joined acts such as Coldplay's Chris Martin, Dido and Robbie Williams on a 2004 version of the 1984 Band Aid's orginial "Do They Know It's Christmas?", which in December went to number 1 in the UK and sold over 200,000 copies. The charity single which all the money raised went toward famine relief in the Darfur region of Sudan.
After a break from the music industry, whilst recording their fourth album, Buena gave birth to a daughter, Tahlia Maya Buena, in March 2005. The group gave their first performance for over a year at the Edinburgh Live 8 concert [3]. In this time, the girls had been recording their fourth album, working with variety of songwriters and producers, including USA producer, Dallas Austin.
[edit] Taller In More Ways
On 2 October 2005 the Dallas Austin produced "Push The Button" debuted at number one in the UK singles chart, giving the girls their fourth number one single and first Irish number one single. The song was later nominated at the Brit Awards for 'Best British Single'. The single also went number one in Austria and New Zealand.
On 16 October 2005, Taller In More Ways became the band's first UK number one album. On that same date, the girls celebrated being number one in the singles, album, airplay, and download charts at the same time. Taller In More Ways sees the band work with Guy Sigsworth, Cathy Dennis, Xenomania, and Cameron McVey.
Following an apparent illness that prevented Buena from promoting the follow up single "Ugly", it was announced on 21 December 2005 that Buena had left Sugababes. According to an announcement on their site, "Mutya's decision was based purely on personal reasons and she will continue to remain the best of friends with both Keisha and Heidi" [4]. The last remaining orginial member Keisha Buchanan upon Buena's departure "...we will all miss Mutya, but we also knew there was still a place for bringing in somebody new who could help us carry on taking the Sugababes brand of music forward" [2].
Amelle Berrabah took over in late December, and worked with Keisha and Heidi to continue the Sugababes brand. The Sugababes' third single was a re-recorded version of "Red Dress" was released in early 2006 gave the group a third consecutive top 5 hit from the album entering the UK Singles Chart at number four. Amelle also re-recorded tracks from Taller In More Ways for a re-release of the album. Amelle's vocals appear on 4 tracks including the bonus track; Mutya's vocals remain on the rest of the album. In early 2006, Taller In More Ways earned a Platinum Award from the IFPI in recognition of over 1 million copies sold in Europe [5]. "Red Dress" , . In April 2006, the girls won "Best World Group" at the ESKA Music Awards 2006 in Poland. The final single from Taller In More Ways was "Follow Me Home", released on mid-2006. Despite the song featuring new vocals from Amelle, "Follow Me Home" charted at number thirty-two - the lowest position to date for a Sugababes single.
[edit] Overloaded: The Singles Collection
The Sugababes returned during summer of 2006 to the recording studio to start work on their fifth studio album, cutting tracks deemed not suitable for inclusion for their first greatest hits compilation entitled Overloaded: The Singles Collection. The lead single from the compilation, "Easy," the song is a collaboration with George Astario and Jason Pebworth, produced by Brio Taliaferro. "Easy" was released on CD the week prior to the hits compilation album, and peaked at number eight in the UK Single Charts.
The singles compilation was released 13 November 2006. The compilation contains tracks from One Touch to Taller In More Ways, excluding tracks "New Year", "Soul Sound", "Angels With Dirty Faces", and "Follow Me Home", most of which were not released outside of the UK. At the same time the CD is released, a separate DVD will be released, featuring 14 of their music videos and karaoke versions. A special deluxe digital download version will also be made available, featuring 12 live versions, and a special remix collection, entitled Overloaded: The Remix Collection will also be available, alongside a 5-track Napster Live Session, featuring acoustic versions of 4 of their hits and their cover of Primal Scream's hit, "Rocks".
The group will tour in support of their greatest hits compilation throught Europe in March, before continuing recording their sixth studio album, and will be the first full-length album to include all vocals with Berrabah.
[edit] Discography
[edit] Albums
| Year | Album | UK | UK sales [6] | WW sales |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | One Touch | 26 | 200,000 | 600,000 |
| 2002 | Angels with Dirty Faces | 2 | 900,000 | 2,800,000 |
| 2003 | Three | 3 | 830,000 | 2,200,000 |
| 2005 | Taller In More Ways | 1 | 860,000 | 2,500,000 |
| 2006 | Overloaded: The Singles Collection | 3 | 210,000(So far) |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Title | Album | Chart positions [7] | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | IRE | GER | NETH | NZ | AUS | US | WW | ||||
| 2000 | "Overload" | One Touch | 6 | 15 | 3 | 14 | 2 | 27 | - | 25 | |
| 2000 | "New Year" | One Touch | 12 | 25 | - | - | - | - | - | - | |
| 2001 | "Run for Cover" | One Touch | 13 | 35 | 28 | 33 | - | 36 | - | - | |
| 2001 | "Soul Sound" | One Touch | 30 | - | - | - | - | 79 | - | - | |
| 2002 | "Freak Like Me" | Angels With Dirty Faces | 1 | 2 | 27 | 23 | 25 | 44 | - | 17 | |
| 2002 | "Round Round" | Angels With Dirty Faces | 1 | 2 | 15 | 2 | 2 | 13 | - | 8 | |
| 2002 | "Stronger / Angels with Dirty Faces" | Angels With Dirty Faces | 7 | 13 | 38 | 5 | 24 | 34 | - | 17 | |
| 2003 | "Shape" | Angels With Dirty Faces | 11 | 9 | 39 | 7 | - | 75 | - | 29 | |
| 2003 | "Hole in the Head" | Three | 1 | 2 | 9 | 2 | 11 | 25 | 96 | 7 | |
| 2003 | "Too Lost in You" | Three | 10 | 13 | 14 | 8 | 31 | 31 | - | 15 | |
| 2004 | "In the Middle" | Three | 8 | 13 | 29 | 7 | - | 33 | - | 38 | |
| 2004 | "Caught in a Moment" | Three | 8 | 28 | 71 | 30 | - | - | - | 60 | |
| 2005 | "Push the Button" | Taller In More Ways | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 3 | - | 4 | |
| 2005 | "Ugly" | Taller In More Ways | 3 | 7 | 26 | 7 | 5 | 13 | - | 15 | |
| 2006 | "Red Dress" | Taller In More Ways (Re-Release) | 4 | 12 | 27 | 7 | 16 | 22 | - | 28 | |
| 2006 | "Follow Me Home" | Taller In More Ways (Re-Release) | 32 | 25 | - | - | - | - | - | 92 | |
| 2006 | "Easy" | Overloaded: The Singles Collection | 8 | 18 | 26 | ||||||
| 2007 | "Good to Be Gone" (January 29 2007) | Overloaded: The Singles Collection | TBR | ||||||||
[edit] Awards and recognition
| Year | Award-giving Body | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Brit Awards | Best British Single (Overload) | Nominated |
| 2001 | MTV Europe Music Awards | Best UK and Ireland act | Nominated |
| 2002 | Q Awards | Best Single (Freak Like Me) | Won |
| 2002 | MTV Europe Music Awards | Best UK and Ireland act | Nominated |
| 2002 | MOBO Awards | UK Act of the Year | Nominated |
| 2002 | Elle Style Awards | Music Star Award | Won |
| 2002 | Smash Hits | Best Album (Angels with Dirty Faces) | Won |
| 2002 | National Music Awards | Best Song from a Movie (Round Round) | Won |
| 2003 | Brit Awards | Best British Dance Act | Won |
| 2003 | Brit Awards | Best British Album (Angels with Dirty Faces) | Nominated |
| 2003 | Brit Awards | Best British Group | Nominated |
| 2004 | Disney Awards | Best Single (Hole in the Head) | Won |
| 2004 | Capital FM Awards | Best Live Music | Won |
| 2004 | TMF Awards | Best International Pop Group | Won |
| 2005 | Brit Awards | Best British Single (Push The Button) | Nominated |
| 2005 | TOTP Awards | Best Single (Push The Button) | Won |
| 2006 | ESKA Music Awards | Best World Group | Won |
| 2006 | Elle Style Awards | Best Dressed Pop Stars | Won |
[edit] Trivia
- In 2002, fellow band-member Heidi Range sparked health fears when she collapsed in London’s CC club who attended the club with fellow Sugababes Keisha Buchanan and Mutya Buena to watch a Ms Dynamite performance.
- In 2002, the Sugababes escaped a possible lethal accident when a tyre burst on their coach during a high speed motorway. The Sugababes were heading for a gig in Sheffield when they heard a loud bang and the vehicle started to slide across the carriageway. The driver managed to safely bring the van to a stand still by the side of the road.
- While performing at the MOBO Awards in 2002 an intruder went up upon stage and headbutted one of their dancers.
- In 2003, Mizz Magazine readers voted for the celebrities they wanted to design a new bandanna and the Sugababes were chosen. They designed the bandanna where a portion of the proceeds went to Teenage Cancer Trust.
- In 2003, The News Of The World ran a story on the richest teenagers in the UK. It said the Sugababes were worth £1.75 million.
- Push the Button was covered by Indie band Starsailor which appears as a b-side to the single 'This Time' in 2005.
- When the Sugababes formed in 1998, members Keisha and Mutya are known to have invented their own "language". Apparently you add "-Ski" to each word.
[edit] See also
- List of number-one dance hits (United States)
- List of artists who reached number one on the US Dance chart
- List of bands with only one consistent member
[edit] References
- ^ Sugababes sales in the UK. Sugababes Official MySpace. Retrieved on 16 November 2006.
- ^ a b Sugababes history. BBC.co.uk. Retrieved on 16 November 2006.
- ^ Sugababe sadden by live 8 images. DigitialSpy.co.uk. Retrieved on 16 November 2006.
- ^ Mutya leaves Sugababes & New Member. Popjustice.com. Retrieved on 16 November 2006.
- ^ The UK music scene is booming. NME.com. Retrieved on 16 November 2006.
- ^ Sugababes album sales in the UK. Sugababes UK. Retrieved on 20 November 2006.
- ^ Sugababes chart positions. musicsquare.net. Retrieved on 18 November 2006.
[edit] External links
- Sugababes Official UK Web Site
- Sugababes Official German Web Site
- Sugababes Official USA Web Site
- Sugababes at the Internet Movie Database
- Sugababes UK - Active Fansite and Forum
- Sugababes Online | Comprehensive Fansite
- Official MySpace Profile
- Interview with new Sugababe, Amelle, on I Like Music
Members: Keisha Buchanan · Heidi Range · Amelle Berrabah
Former members: Siobhán Donaghy · Mutya Buena
Discography
Albums: One Touch · Angels with Dirty Faces · Three · Taller in More Ways · Overloaded: The Singles Collection
Singles: "Overload" · "New Year" · "Run for Cover" · "Soul Sound" · "Freak Like Me" · "Round Round" · "Stronger / Angels with Dirty Faces" · "Shape" · "Hole in the Head" · "Too Lost in You" · "In the Middle" · "Caught in a Moment" · "Push the Button" · "Ugly" · "Red Dress" · "Follow Me Home" · "Easy" · "Good to Be Gone"
