Sugababes

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 . They were also the first pop group ever to grace the main stage of Glastonbury in 2003.

History

One Touch

Keisha Buchanan and Mutya Buena were childhood friends in London, England and met Siobhan Donaghy when they were thirteen. Keisha's family is from Barbados while Mutya'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.
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.

Angels With Dirty Faces

" (2002), the Sugababes' second single with Heidi, became the group's second UK number one song.]]
Heidi Range was announced as Siobhan'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.
"Freak Like Me" had 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. Their second single with Heidi, "Round Round" was the group's second UK number one single.
On the back of the hits, Sugababes' second album Angels With Dirty Faces debuts at number two on the UK album chart. The third single from the album, a ballad entitled "Stronger" and then "Angels With Dirty Faces," the main song to The Powerpuff Girls Movie, went top ten in the UK. The fourth single "Shape," which samples the Sting track, "Shape Of My Heart," made number eleven in the UK. 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.

Three

" (2003) was the bands' first single to chart in the United States.]]
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. 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. The album's third single, "In The Middle," hit the UK top ten. 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.

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'.
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 Mutya from promoting the follow up single "Ugly", it was announced on 21 December 2005 that Mutya 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" . The last remaining orginial member Keisha upon Mutya'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" .
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 . "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.