Five (stylised as 5ive) are a British boy band from London consisting of members Sean Conlon, Ritchie Neville, and Scott Robinson. They were formed in 1997 by the same team that managed the Spice Girls before they launched their career. The group were mostly known as a five-piece, consisting of Robinson, Neville, Conlon, Abz Love and Jason "J" Brown. Five enjoyed remarkable success worldwide, particularly in their native United Kingdom, as well as most of the rest of Europe and Asia.
A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation, singing love songs marketed towards young women. Being vocal groups, most boy band members do not play musical instruments, either in recording sessions or on stage, making the term something of a misnomer. However, exceptions do exist. Many boy bands dance as well as sing, usually giving highly choreographed performances.
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south-east of England, at the head of its 50-mile (80 km) estuary leading to the North Sea, London has been a major settlement for two millennia. Londinium was founded by the Romans. The City of London, London's ancient core − an area of just 1.12 square miles (2.9 km2) and colloquially known as the Square Mile − retains boundaries that follow closely its medieval limits. The City of Westminster is also an Inner London borough holding city status. Greater London is governed by the Mayor of London and the London Assembly.
Sean Kieran Conlon is an English singer best known as a member of boy band Five before leaving in 2001 a few months before the group announced their split. Conlon rejoined the group in 2013 as part of the ITV2 series The Big Reunion.
According to the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), Five has been certified for 1.6 million albums and 2.4 million singles in the UK.[1]
The BPI Limited, commonly known as the British Phonographic Industry or BPI, is the British recorded music industry's trade association.
They split up on 27 September 2001 after selling 10 million copies of their records worldwide.
Robinson, Love, Neville, and Brown briefly reformed the group without Conlon (who departed before their 2001 split) in September 2006, with a new management team headed by music manager Richard Beck. Eight months later, having secured a lucrative tour but failing to gain enough record company interest, Five made an announcement via their official website that they would again disband.
Richard Beck is an artist manager and former public relations man within the music industry. He runs Bigboy Management with a roster comprising RyanDan, 5ive, The Parlotones and Ezra Vine. He also presides over Supernova Entertainment Ltd, a live music and entertainment organisation. He has appeared on numerous TV shows and has been interviewed on the radio for his opinions.
In 2012, the group announced that they were planning another reunion, this time with Conlon on board. Lead singer Brown initially agreed to take part in the reunion, but later changed his mind, claiming that he no longer wanted to be in the public eye.[2] The group continued with only four members, but decided to keep the name Five. Alongside Blue, 911, Atomic Kitten, B*Witched, Honeyz and Liberty X, Five were featured in the ITV2 documentary series The Big Reunion, which began airing on 31 January 2013.[3] This was followed by a comeback performance at the Hammersmith Apollo on 26 February 2013 and an arena tour around the UK and Ireland in May, which was their first ever tour without Brown. In November and December 2013, Five headlined their own tour, the 5ive Greatest Hits Tour, their first solo tour as a four-piece. In August 2014, Love announced his departure from the band via a tweet, leaving Conlon, Neville and Robinson to continue as a trio.
Blue are an English boy band consisting of members Antony Costa, Duncan James, Lee Ryan and Simon Webbe. The band originally formed in 2000 and has released three studio albums, All Rise (2001), One Love (2002) and Guilty (2003) that all peaked at number one in the United Kingdom alongside releasing 16 singles, over a four-year period. The group also worked alongside artists such as Stevie Wonder, Elton John and Lil' Kim. In late 2004, the group announced a hiatus and released their first compilation album, Best of Blue, on 15 November 2004.
Atomic Kitten are a British pop girl group formed in Liverpool in 1998 whose current members are Natasha Hamilton and Liz McClarnon. The group was founded by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) members Andy McCluskey and Stuart Kershaw, who served as principal songwriters during Atomic Kitten's early years. The group's debut album Right Now was released in October 2000 and charted at number 39 in the United Kingdom. After five top ten singles, original member Kerry Katona quit – four weeks before "Whole Again" reached number one in the UK Singles Chart – and was replaced by former Precious singer Jenny Frost. "Whole Again" became the group's most successful single, staying at number one for four weeks in the UK and six weeks in Germany, and reaching number one in many other territories; in Britain, it was the 13th best-selling single of the 2000s. The group re-released their debut album, with some tracks re-recorded with Frost's vocals: it peaked at number one in the UK and was certified double platinum after selling over 600,000 copies.
B*Witched are an Irish girl group consisting of twin sisters Edele and Keavy Lynch, Lindsay Armaou and Sinéad O'Carroll. Originally active between 1997 and 2002, they enjoyed success in both Europe and North America between 1998 and 2000, releasing two albums and eight singles, all of which made the UK Top 20. Their first four singles, "C'est la Vie", "Rollercoaster", "To You I Belong" and "Blame It on the Weatherman", all reached number one in the UK Singles Chart. In 2002, having sold over 3 million albums worldwide, B*Witched were dropped by their record company. Soon afterwards, when O'Carroll decided to leave, the group split up. In 2006, the Lynch sisters formed a group, Ms. Lynch, frequently performing B*Witched material at live shows.
Career
1997–98: Formation and 5ive
In 1997, an advertisement was placed in the UK performing arts newspaper The Stage, asking for young male singers/dancers to audition for a boy band-style group with "attitude and edge". Bob and Chris Herbert, the two men who had earlier created the Spice Girls, thought the time was right for a male group. Over 3,000 hopefuls auditioned, including Russell Brand, and they were finally narrowed down to only 14, five of whom had arranged themselves into a group while waiting for their audition. The auditions resulted in a provisional casting of nine members: Richard Breen (now better known as Abz Love), Ritchie Neville, Scott Robinson, Sean Conlon, Jason "J" Brown, and stand-by members Peter Montpellier, Paul Taylor, Anthony Baker (rapper) and Ric Hershon. Because his first name was Richard, Breen created the nickname 'Abs' (from his middle name, "Abidin") to avoid confusion with Neville (born Richard Neville Dobson). Montpellier and Taylor were later cut when the final five were chosen in May 1997 and Hershon couldn't attend the final selection. Anthony Baker made it into the band originally, but doubt was cast over Anthony's rapping style as his North Eastern accent came through.
The Stage is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry, and particularly theatre. It was founded in 1880. It contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at those who work in theatre and the performing arts.
Robert “Bob” Herbert was an English talent manager. He was the original manager of the Spice Girls.
Chris Herbert, is a talent manager who has helped overseen the careers of the Spice Girls, Five, Stephen Gately and Hear'Say, B*Witched, The Honeyz, Ben's Brother. He is the son of the late talent manager Bob Herbert.
The band subsequently were signed by Simon Cowell and BMG/RCA for a six-album deal. Five practiced and demoed their work at Trinity Studios in Knaphill – the same place the Spice Girls did a few years previously. In November 1997, Five released their debut single "Slam Dunk (Da Funk)", which debuted at number 10 in the UK Singles Chart. The song was also released in the U.S. in 1998 but had little chart success, although it was chosen as the NBA's new theme song. In 1998, Five earned their first major international hit, "When the Lights Go Out", which cracked the U.S. top 10 and earned Gold status there soon after. Five then went on an eight-day tour to promote their upcoming album, appearing in a concert special for the Disney Channel with Irish girl groupB*Witched, in Times Square in New York City and on MTV's TRL. The debut album 5ive peaked at number 27 in the U.S. Billboard 200 and topped the charts in other countries worldwide, including the UK.
Simon Phillip Cowell is an English television music and talent show judge, businessman, A&R executive, talent manager, television producer, and entrepreneur. He has judged on the British TV talent competition series Pop Idol, The X Factor and Britain's Got Talent, and the American TV talent competition shows American Idol, The X Factor and America's Got Talent. Cowell is the principal, founder and chief executive of the British entertainment company Syco.
Bertelsmann Music Group was a division of German media company Bertelsmann before its completion of sale of the majority of its assets to Sony Corporation of America on 1 October 2008. Although it was established in 1987, the music company was formed as RCA/Ariola International in 1984 as a joint venture to combine the music label activities of RCA Corporation's RCA Records division and Bertelsmann's Ariola Records and its associated labels which include Arista Records. It consisted of the BMG Music Publishing company, the world's third largest music publisher and the world's largest independent music publisher, and the 50% share of the joint venture with Sony Music, which established the German American Sony BMG from 2004 to 2008.
RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records, Arista Records, and Epic Records. The label has released multiple genres of music, including pop, classical, rock, hip hop, afrobeat, electronic, R&B, blues, jazz, and country. Its name is derived from the initials of its defunct parent company, the Radio Corporation of America (RCA). It was fully acquired by Bertelsmann in 1986, making it a part of Bertelsmann Music Group (BMG); however, RCA Records became a part of Sony BMG Music Entertainment, a merger between BMG and Sony Music, in 2004, and was acquired by the latter in 2008, after the dissolution of Sony BMG and the restructuring of Sony Music. It is the second-oldest record label in American history, after sister label Columbia Records.
"It's The Things You Do" was released in late 1998 in the U.S., only to receive a lukewarm reception. The group embarked upon a U.S. tour with the American boy band NSYNC, but soon after pulled out due to exhaustion, flying back to England to rest and start work on a new album. Still from the first album, "Got the Feelin'", "Everybody Get Up", and "Until the Time Is Through" were all released as singles in the UK throughout 1998. Five reached the top 5 in several countries around the world, and the latter two singles each rose to the number two spot in the UK. A significant element in Five's popularity was their resemblance to American boy bands such as New Kids on the Block, the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC in their uptempo musical style and 'street' image, in contrast to Take That, Boyzone, and 98 Degrees, who at the time were primarily known for their ballads. Five also wrote or co-wrote almost all of their own songs, something boy bands had never done much of until then. According to Cowell, Five almost broke the US. Unfortunately they made some bad decisions. When Cowell heard "...Baby One More Time", he wanted Five to have it, but writer Max Martin had given it to Britney Spears. Five were later offered "Bye Bye Bye", but upon hearing the song, they turned it down and dissed it.[4] "Then they went out to Sweden a few weeks later to record a song which they famously turned down, called "Bye Bye Bye." And it really was bye bye bye after that. That would have been the record that broke them. I would have broken that band," Cowell said.[5]
1999–2000: Invincible
In August 1999, the first single of their second album, Invincible, the catchy dance tune "If Ya Gettin' Down", was released and became a major hit worldwide but yet again failed to go to number 1 in their home country, kept out of the top spot by Ricky Martin. Finally, in October 1999, after three consecutive number-two peaks, "Keep on Movin'" became their first UK number 1, as well as their biggest selling single to date. The second album hit the top five shortly thereafter. "Don't Wanna Let You Go" was released in early March 2000, peaking at number 9. On 3 March 2000, Five opened at the BRIT Awards with rock legends Queen, performing an updated version of that band's hit, "We Will Rock You". That night Five won their first BRIT Award, as "Best Pop Act", and their cover of the Queen song went on to become their second number 1 in the UK in July 2000. The first half of 2000 found Five on a successful world tour, performing concerts in the UK, Europe, Russia, Australasia and—as a foursome—South America, after Neville contracted chickenpox and had to be flown back to England. After finishing the tour, Five continued to perform at many concerts in the UK, including Party in the Park with Queen. A re-issue of Invincible included remixed versions of a couple of songs and five live tracks from their tour, as well as a bonus track, "Don't Fight It Baby". Due for release in July 2000 in the US, the song was pulled from release after the group was dropped by their stateside label, Arista Records. Five also had problems with their Asian record company, and subsequently cancelled their Asian tour. Suffering from this major blow, the lads headed back to the studio and started writing songs for their next album. They continued to win awards in the UK and Europe, and in December 2000 launched their second big tour, in their home country.
2001: Kingsize, Conlon's departure and split
In January 2001, Five went to perform at one of the biggest festivals in the world, Rock in Rio in Rio de Janeiro, to an audience of almost 500,000 people. In May 2001, after many months of creative writing and "developing their own personal sound", Kingsize was completed. When it was time to begin filming the video for their first single off the album, however, Conlon was unable to appear as he was suffering from a mental breakdown from stress caused by being part of the group. This was not publicly revealed at the time, however, and it was claimed he was ill from glandular fever instead.[6] The "Let's Dance" video was released with a life-size cardboard cut-out standing in for the singer, and rumours that he had in fact left the band had to be quashed. Robinson also needed a time temporarily to be with his son, Brennan Rhys, who borns premature. The remaining three members, Brown, Love and Neville pressed on with heavy promotion of the group's third album and the "Let's Dance" single. Whilst performing at a concert in Belgium in July, Neville tore the tendons in his left foot, putting a halt to all promotion and prompting the group to have a few meetings to re-think their options and future. "Let's Dance" was released in mid August 2001, however, and became their third UK number one, holding the top spot for two weeks. Kingsize debuted two weeks later at number three, and went on to achieve Gold status. Two weeks after the release of Kingsize, the band announced the Conlon's departure. Neville said in an interview several years later that the band's management kept Conlon's departure from the band a secret, so they were not aware that he had left when they filmed the "Let's Dance" video.[7]
On 27 September 2001, after a month of serious meetings with record management, the band announced on MTV Select that it would split after releasing a compilation later that year. The following day, Robinson married his fiancé, Kerry Oaker, at a ceremony with all of his former bandmates in attendance. Years later, Breen revealed he was strongly against the idea of splitting up; he described the break-up as feeling something had been taken from him. On 19 November a Greatest Hits was released with 15 past hits, two remixes and one new song. On 24 November, a double-A-side single with "Closer to Me" and "Rock the Party" was released in United Kingdom with an animated video. The two songs was included in their previous album Kingsize, but after the Conlon's departure, they decided to release as a single from Greatest Hits. The album was released on United States on 15 February 2002. In the band's short life-span, they experienced success around the world, racking up three number-one singles in the UK and selling an estimate of 15-20 million copies of their records worldwide,[8] including 7 million copies of their albums worldwide and 2 million in the United States, and picking up numerous awards along the way.
2006–07: First reunion
On 17 September 2006, an announcement was made via Five's official Myspace page that a press conference was to be held at The Scala in central London on 27 September.[9] After a venue change due to a shooting at The Scala, the conference was moved to the Bar Academy Islington. It was rumoured that four of the five members would be reuniting (Conlon now being committed to his Sony deal),[10] and this was confirmed at the press conference. Five recorded new material for what was to be their fourth studio album, working with Guy Chambers, Swedish producer/songwriter Anders Bagge, and French DJs Trak Invaders. They also planned to tour in 2007.[11] By January 2007, Five had completed half of their album and were looking to be signed to a record label with new manager, Richard Beck, who also secured an MTV documentary series titled Five - The Revive. The album was expected to be released within the next few months.[12] On 8 March 2007, at midnight, Five premiered one-minute clips of three brand new songs that were to have been on the new album. The songs, titled "70 Days", "Settle Down" and "It's All Good" can be heard on the band's official website and also on their Myspace page. On 19 May 2007, only eight months after reforming and having failed to secure a lucrative enough record deal, 5ive announced via their website that they would no longer be pursuing a comeback.[13]
2012–present: Second reunion and Love's departure
In 2012 Conlon reunited with his former bandmates to discuss the possibility of a second reunion.[14][15] Brown initially was willing to take part in the reunion, but later on pulled out and the other members then stated that they would continue as a four-piece.[16] The return was announced on 18 October. In 2013, the group took part in The Big Reunion,[17] where they talked about their time together and the difficulties that came with being in a band. Robinson also expressed his annoyance toward Brown's refusal of reuniting.[18] In January 2013, it the group were looking to find a new member to replace Brown,[19] and they were also having disagreement over the group's name.[20] The group auditioned three men to become the new member of the band, but in the end the plan for a fifth member was dropped and Five decided to continue as a four-piece.[21] Brown eventually appeared on The Big Reunion: On Tour to deny the accusations made by his bandmates in September 2013.[22] He acknowledged his behaviour could have been seen as loud and overbearing, but he denied bullying Conlon. During a meeting with Love on the show, Brown explained how he had moved on and that he did not feel comfortable returning to Five.
On 16 September 2013, the band picked up the award for Best Music Act (On a Reality TV Show) at the National Reality TV Awards.[23] In November and December 2013, Five embarked on their own tour in UK and Australia, the 5ive Greatest Hits Tour.[24] In March 2014, it was rumored that Love had quit the group, but at the time they denied it.[25][26] In June 2014, Five supported McBusted on four dates of their McBusted Tour and later that month Love stated that the group's future is uncertain.[27] Love eventually announced that he had left the group in August 2014 via Twitter, without telling the other members beforehand.[28] In an interview a few days before the announcement, Love revealed that he only agreed to reunite with Five because of financial necessity.[29] The band has since continued as a three piece. In February 2016, they released another album, entitled Keep On Movin' - The Best of Five.[30]
Liberty X were a British-Irish group consisting of Michelle Heaton, Tony Lundon, Kevin Simm, Jessica Taylor and Kelli Young.
Neville Eugenton Staple is a Jamaican born English singer for the 2-tone ska band, The Specials as well as his own band, The Neville Staple Band. He also sang with Ranking Roger in Special Beat.
Westlife are an Irish pop vocal group, which formed in 1998 in Sligo, disbanded in 2012 and reunited in 2018. They were originally signed by Simon Cowell in the UK, Clive Davis in the US and managed by Louis Walsh and Sonny Takhar. The group currently consists of Shane Filan, Mark Feehily, Kian Egan, and Nicky Byrne.
The Honeyz are an English R&B girl group who had five UK Top 10 hits between 1998 and 2000, with "Finally Found" (1998), "End of the Line" (1998), "Love of a Lifetime" (1999), "Never Let You Down" (1999) and "Won't Take It Lying Down" (2000). Their debut album was certified Gold by BPI The Honeyz formed in 1998 with the original line-up consisting of Célena Cherry, Heavenli Denton and Naima Belkhiati. Former Solid HarmoniE member Mariama Goodman replaced Denton in 1999. Goodman left in 2000 with Denton rejoining, before the group disbanded for the first time in 2001.
Richard Abidin Breen, better known as Abz Love, is an English rapper, singer, songwriter, DJ, producer and TV personality. Love has sold over 20 million records as a member and the lead singer of Simon Cowell's boy band Five. In 2003, Love released his debut solo album Abstract Theory, which earned him a further three top ten hits. After years out of the spotlight, Love returned to screens on ITV2's The Big Reunion in 2012. In 2013 he appeared on All Star Mr & Mrs and became the runner-up for Channel 5's Celebrity Big Brother 12. In 2015, Love starred in BBC Two's documentary series Country Strife: Abz on the Farm, followed by a Christmas special titled Country Strife: Abz on the Christmas Farm. In January 2016, Abz released his first solo single in over a decade, a comedy track called "Cockadoodledoo" with the hope of raising money for his farming project.
911 are an English pop group consisting of Lee Brennan, Jimmy Constable and Simon "Spike" Dawbarn. They were formed in 1995 and released their debut single "Night to Remember" in May 1996. This was followed by their debut album The Journey in March 1997, which was certified Gold by the BPI in November 1997. 911 released two more Silver-certified albums, Moving On, which featured the talents of guitarist Nick Cash and There It Is, in 1998 and 1999, respectively. There It Is also produced their only UK number-one single, a cover of "A Little Bit More", which topped the UK Singles Chart in January 1999.
Scott James Timothy Robinson is an English singer best known for being a member of the boy band Five.
Richard Neville Dobson is an English sommelier, restaurateur and singer. He is most noted for being a member of the boy band Five.
Jason Paul "J" Brown is an English former singer and rapper. He is best known as a former member and lead singer of boy band Five. He was the oldest member of the band, which also included Sean Conlon, Ritchie Neville, Abz Love and Scott Robinson. In 2012, it was announced that Five, along with 911, Atomic Kitten, B*Witched, Honeyz and Liberty X, would be reuniting for the ITV2 reality series The Big Reunion, and although Brown initially agreed to take part in the reunion, he later backed out, claiming that he no longer wants to be in the public eye.
Anthony William James "Tony" Lundon is an Irish singer, dancer, cinematographer, director, producer, writer, presenter plus actor. He is best known as a member of the pop group Liberty X.
The discography of English boy band Five consists of three studio albums, four compilation albums, thirteen singles, fourteen music videos and three video albums. Five's debut album, 5ive, was released by RCA Records in the United Kingdom in June 1998 and peaked at number one on the UK Albums Chart and has been certified double platinum by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). The first single from the album, "Slam Dunk ", peaked at number ten on the UK Singles Chart and within the top thirty across most of Europe. Follow-up single, "When the Lights Go Out", was more successful, peaking at number four in the UK, number two in Australia and number ten on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States. Other singles released from the album, "Got the Feelin'", "Everybody Get Up", and "Until the Time Is Through" all peaked within the top three in the UK and Ireland, and all three have been certified silver by the BPI.
Greatest Hits is the first compilation album by English boy band Five. It was released in the United Kingdom through RCA Records on 19 November 2001, just three months after the release of their third studio album, Kingsize. "Closer to Me" and "Rock the Party" was released as double single on United Kingdom and Ireland. The album was executively produced by Simon Cowell and Richard "Biff" Stannard. In other countries, the songs were released as separate singles. The songs was included in the previous album Kingsize (2001).
The Big Reunion is a British reality-documentary series that began airing on ITV2 on 31 January 2013. The show featured chart-topping bands who were big in the UK pop music scene between the 1990s and early 2000s, and the programme followed them as they reunited for the first time in a decade and went through their two weeks of intensive rehearsals before finally stepping back on stage for a comeback performance.
5ive Greatest Hits Tour is a concert tour by British boyband Five. This is the band's first tour since their split in 2001 and the joint-headlining The Big Reunion. It is the second tour not to feature original band member Jason "J" Brown, who declined to participate in the group's 2012 reformation. The tour consisted of shows in the United Kingdom and Australia, and it continued into 2014 with additional concerts.
The Loud and Intimate Tour was a 2015 concert tour by British boy band Five. Following their comeback success on The Big Reunion and the 5ive Greatest Hits Tour, the band played at theatre venues around England, performing selections from their back catalogue. This is the band's first full concert tour without former founding member Abz Love, thus making it their first as a trio.
Vicky Fallon is a UK based Singer-songwriter, talent manager and television personality. Fallon was previously engaged to ex 5ive star Abz Love and co-starred with Love in their hit documentary series Country Strife: Abz on the farm which aired on BBC two in 2015 and on the subsequent Christmas special Country Strife: Abz on the Christmas farm. During her career in music Fallon has performed session and back up vocals for Disney, Pixar, Alesha Dixon and Russian singer Alsou. She has also written for the Sugababes and Alan Braxe. Currently, Fallon has a YouTube channel under the name, iamFa11on where she uploads covers of hit songs and also original material. Fallon is a featured artist on Abz Love's comedy single Cockadoodledoo (2016) and on Alan Braxe's single Nightwatcher (2008). Fallon has previously recorded, written and produced under the names Fa11on, Vikki O'Neill and Vicky Fallon.
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