| The 411 | |
|---|---|
| Origin | United Kingdom |
| Genres | R&B |
| Instruments | Singing |
| Years active | 2003–2005 |
| Labels | Sony |
| Associated acts | Sunshyne, Ghostface Killah, Ashanti, Lemar. |
| Website | The 411 on Myspace |
| Past members | |
| Carolyn Owlett (2003–2005) Tanya Boniface (2003–2005) Tisha Martin (2003-2005) Suzie Furlonger (2003–2005) |
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The 411 were a four-piece English female R&B group formed late in 2003. The band formed after a couple of the members sang backup vocals on Lemar's version of Al Green's "Let's Stay Together". The band took its name after the Mary J. Blige's 1992 album "What's the 411?"
The band reformed in 2007 under new name Sunshyne with 2 new members due to Furlonger quitting a few months before,the band soon changed back to their original name and the 2 new members left with just the 3 original members in the band. Martin announced in 2008 via her Myspace account that the band had yet again split but still remained friends and that there could be a one off single in the future.
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The group was first formed in 2003 as a 4-piece girl band with Tisha Martin a familiar face at the time after appearing in children's television shows Kerching and The Basil Brush Show.
The group's first single, "On My Knees, was a hit in the UK (reaching the top 5) and Australia (reaching the top 30). A second single, "Dumb," reached number 3 in the UK and also reached the top 30 in Australia. These singles appeared on their album Between The Sheets, featuring songs written by Diane Warren, Redeye, and The 411 themselves. They also recorded a cover version of SWV's big hit "Weak."
Between The Sheets was also released in France and Japan. The French edition featured two new versions of album tracks, recorded specifically for the French market: "Face À Toi Baby" featuring Mag (featuring the verses from "Dumb" with a special French chorus) and "Chance" featuring K'Maro (a new mix of "Chance" featuring a French language rap). The Japanese edition of the album featured the standard 12 tracks from the UK version, alongside two bonus tracks: "Drop Top Jeans" (which appeared as B-side to "Teardrops" in the UK) and "Soaking Wet," alongside an enhanced section featuring the videos to "On My Knees" and "Dumb.
Since the band's break-up in 2005 Furlonger has worked as backing vocalist for various artists, including Paloma Faith (on her UK tour as well as at V Festival 2010), Take That, Leona Lewis, Julio Iglesias, Bonnie Tyler, James Ingram, Peabo Bryson (duetting with him on several occasions) and regularly with Candi Staton, and performed on shows such as CD:UK, GMTV, X Factor: Battle of the Stars, T4 on The Beach, The Royal Variety Performance and Glastonbury 2008 and 2010 with Candi Staton.[1] Furlonger also appeared on X Factor in 2008 as a solo singer in the Over 25s category,[2] with Dannii Minogue as her mentor.[3] She reached the final 6 but was eliminated from the show on 5 October, having failed to reach the live finals.[4] Since the show, she has signed to Mousse T's label, Peppermint Jam, and recorded an album in Germany.[1] She continues to provide backing vocals while in the UK regularly tours with David Gest where she duets with some of the artists, as well as providing backing vocals for the other artists on the show.[5]
Tanya Boniface appeared in the identity parade in the first episode of the twenty-third season of Never Mind the Buzzcocks, broadcasted on 1 October 2009. Boniface was not correctly identified, Ben Miller ruling her out as a possibility as he thought she was "too young" to have been in a defunct girl band.
In September 2007, former members Tanya Boniface and Tisha Martin announced that they were forming a new group called Sunshyne and would be joined by Daizy Agnew. Daizy soon left and was replaced by Stephanie Barnes.
Sunshyne subsequently split up and Tanya and Tisha decided to reform The 411, with the new line-up also including Carolyn Owlett, who had not been involved in the formation of Sunshyne. Original member Suzie Furlonger was not involved, having decided to pursue other avenues. However, in 2008, The 411 split-up once again.
| Year | Album | UK |
|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Between The Sheets | 46 |
| Year | Single | Chart positions | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UK | IRE | GER | AUS | SWI | AUT | FRA | BEL | ||
| 2004 | "On My Knees" |
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| "Dumb" |
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