Name	Boy band
Bgcolor	#87CEEB
Color	white
Stylistic origins	Soul, gospel, disco, bubblegum pop, pop rock, electronic dance music, teen pop, contemporary R&B;, adult contemporary music, hip hop (especially pop rap) and 1960s girl groups.
Cultural origins	late 1970s United Kingdom & United States, with precursors dating back to the mid-1960s.
Instruments	Vocals, electronic backing, Sampler - sequencers. Others use rock band instrumentation: Electric guitar, Bass guitar, drums, Keyboards
Popularity	Worldwide, especially amongst pre-teens and teenagers from the 1990s
Derivatives	K-pop
Fusiongenres	pop rap, pop rock, pop punk, country pop, operatic pop
Other topics	Eurovision song contest, Camp (style), Pop idol, Teenybopper, Postmodernism, Consumerism, Gay culture, Kitsch, Pop culture, Manufactured pop, tweenager, Teen idol, Gay icon

A boy band in pop, hip hop and R&B; music, is loosely defined as a popular music act consisting of about 3-6 male performers. Despite the term "band", boy band members usually do not play musical instruments, either in recording sessions or on stage, although exceptions do exist.

Some such bands can evolve out of church choral or Gospel music groups, but are often created by talent managers or record producers who hold auditions. Due to this and their general commercial orientation towards an audience of preteens, teenyboppers, or teens, the term may be used with negative connotations in music journalism. Boy bands are similar in concept to girl groups.

History

Early history

The earliest form of boy band music took place in the late 19th century with the use of a capella Barbershop quartets. They were usually a group of males and sing in four part harmonies. The popularity of Barbershop quartets had been prominent into the earlier part of the 20th century. A revival of the male vocal group took place in the 1950s with the use of Doo-wop music. Doo wop was a predecessor to the previous boy bands and they sung about topics such as love and other themes used in pop music. The earliest traces of boy bands were in the mid 1950s and the term boy band was not used. The Ink Spots was one of the first boy bands. The term boy band was not established until the late 1980s. Before that times they were called male vocal groups or hep harmony singing groups.

1960s

became an iconic R&B; boy band.]] The earliest predecessors of the boy band genre were groups such as The Osmonds, The Jackson 5, and The Monkees, which helped form the template for boy bands. While The Monkees were a manufactured act who featured members with distinct (albeit fictional) personality types, The Jackson 5 were a family group that established many musical conventions that boy bands follow. For instance, their music featured close harmonies from soul music and catchy pop hooks influenced as much as they were Motown acts like The Supremes. All members of the band sang, which is a common convention of boy band, as opposed to having a front man and the rest on instruments. This is effectively so that no one person dominated the stage. Even so, the members conveniently fitted into the convention of having stereotypical personality types (Michael Jackson being the "cute one", to give an obvious example).

Although not a manufactured band, The Beatles set a precedent for boy bands to follow both in terms of marketing to young girls and certain aesthetic and musical conventions. The merchandising, whether it was films like A Hard Day's Night or novelty goods were possibly the first aimed at a certain demographic on a large scale for a group. This made them a proto-type for boy bands, such as The Jackson 5 and The Monkees. Musical conventions that boy bands adopted from The Beatles were less their technical proficiency as musicians and more the catchy pop hooks, melodies and harmonies combined with their marketability. Their marketability was based the idea that there was something for everyone, whether it is the music or the personality of John Lennon or Paul McCartney or their sex appeal.

The Beatles were more directly an influence on boy bands that use rock band instrumentation. The precedent for this was when TV Producers Bert Schneider and Bob Rafelson got four members to perform catchy pop tunes while also acting in a television series. The Monkees are often considered as the original pioneers among boy bands. Formed in 1965 under the supervision of Don Kirshner, the group became dissatisfied with Kirshner's control and became independent two years later, and worked on their own up to 1970.

1970s and 1980s

Although the term "boy band" is mostly associated with groups from the 1990s onwards, other antecedents (apart from those already mentioned) exist throughout the history of pop music. The genre has been copied into languages and cultures other than the Anglo-American. There is a popular Russian boy band Ivanushki International. The Puerto Rican boy band Menudo, appealing to young Latina audiences, was founded in 1977. Menudo had a convention unique among boy bands: when a member turned 16, became too tall, or their voice changed, they were ejected and replaced. Members of Menudo were generally aged 12–14.

In the U.S., the Cleveland-based power pop group The Raspberries was generally interpreted as a "teen act", although all the band members played their own music. Vocalist Eric Carmen later commented, "You’d have a thousand screaming girls in the front of the stage and then ten very serious rock critics in the back of the room going, ‘Uh-huh, I think we understand this.’ And unfortunately the great mass of pot-smoking eighteen year-olds that bought albums and made you a substantial commodity in the great marketing world of records never took to us. It was not hip for people to like us, because their little sister liked us.

1990s

Although the term "boy band" did not exist until the 1990s, Boston group New Edition is credited for starting the boy band trend in the 1980s. Maurice Starr was influenced by New Edition and popularised it with his protégé New Kids on the Block, the first commercially successful modern boy band. Starr's idea was to take the traditional template from the R&B; genre (in this case his teenage band New Edition) and apply it to a pop genre. Some managers in Europe created their own acts, beginning with Nigel Martin-Smith's Take That in the UK, followed by Louis Walsh and bands like East 17, which by the late 1990s ran their course and split up. With the emergence of britpop and the commercial co-option of indie rock, many boy bands were ridiculed by the British music press as having no artistic credibility.

Boy bands were prominent in the 1990s as well , but they did not explode until 1997. In the mid-1990s, most boy bands were African American and had R&B; and gospel elements, such as the group All 4 One and Boyz II Men. Although they had sucesss on the Billboard charts, they had targeted more of an adult audience and were not marketed for youth.

One of the most successful boy band managers was Lou Pearlman, who founded commercially successful acts such as the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync, although he was later convicted of unrelated fraud incidents. In the UK, producer Simon Cowell (noted in the U.S. for the American Idol/Pop Idol franchise) is also known for having managed boyband Westlife, which was created by Louis Walsh and promoted by a former boy band member Ronan Keating of Boyzone.

2000s

are described as pop boy band]] With the continued success of Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC, groups like O-Town and 98 Degrees gained quick popularity. International boy bands would also occasionally spring up, such as the Moldovan band O-Zone (better known today as an Internet meme).

Since 2001, the dominance of traditional boy bands on pop charts began to fade, although Gil Kaufman of MTV has described "new boy bands" that are "more likely to resemble Good Charlotte, Simple Plan.

Some bands typically labeled as 'boy bands' have achieved larger success because their members create and play their own songs, trying to keep a level of musical performance up to their image. Boston-based power pop group The Click Five is a recent example.

US5, Lexington Bridge and JLS are examples of successful boy bands in Europe

Boy bands are still popular in Eastern Asia with successful groups such as South Korea's TVXQ, BIGBANG, 2PM, SHINee, SS501, BEAST/B2ST, and MBLAQ, while Japan's Arashi, SMAP, V6, Tokio, KinKi Kids, KAT-TUN, NEWS, Kanjani 8, and Hey! Say! JUMP top the Oricon charts. Super Junior, also a popular boy band from South Korea, is one of the world's largest boy bands consisting of 13 members (one of them left in 2010).

In 2001 a new all-male Japanese pop band and dance group boyband hailing from Japan called EXILE, debuted under Avex Group's label Rhythm Zone, thus making EXILE the largest boyband in the world, with 14 members.

Key factors of the concept

Seen as important to a "boy band" group's commercial success is the group's image, carefully controlled by managing all aspects of the group's dress, promotional materials (which are frequently supplied to teen magazines), and music videos. Typically, each member of the group will have some distinguishing feature and be portrayed as having a particular personality stereotype, such as "the baby," "the bad boy," or "the nice boy." While managing the portrayal of popular musicians is as old as popular music, the particular pigeonholing of band members is a defining characteristic of boy and girl bands.

In most cases, their music is written, arranged and produced by a producer who works with the band at all times and controls the group's sound - if necessary, to the point of hiring session singers to record guide vocals for each member of the group to sing individually if the members cannot harmonize well together. However, for clarity of each voice, recording each voice individually is most commonly the norm with most modern vocal groups.

A typical boy band performance features elaborately choreographed dancing, with the members taking turns singing and/or rapping. Boy bands generally do not compose or produce their own material, unless the members lobby hard enough for creative control (e.g. The Monkees, The Fukui Boys, and 'N Sync). It is not uncommon to find extra songs on the album written by one or more of the band members, however their producers rarely use these as singles. UK boyband Five wrote almost all their own songs.

The key factor of a boy band is being trendy. This means that the band conforms to the most recent fashion and musical trends in the popular music scene. As of 2008, boy bands are more likely to be imitating pop punk acts like Blink 182, as well as the corresponding "emo/pop punk" fashion, but some imitate 1960s surf and garage rock revivalist acts like The Horrors or post-punk revivalists like Franz Ferdinand , as it is the current trend.

Music genres

Although most boy bands consist of R&B; or pop influences, other music genres, most notably country music and folk music, are also represented. South 65 and Marshall Dyllon, for example, were both considered country music boy bands, as was to a lesser extent Rascal Flatts. Il Divo, created by Simon Cowell in 2004, are a band that perform Operatic pop, and in several (mainly Italian) languages. Since then operatic/classical boy bands have become quite popular and common, especially in the UK. Since 2001 there has been some crossover with power pop and pop punk from bands that play live instruments. For example, as of 2008, boy bands are often influenced by pop punk, post-grunge, 1960s garage rock , post punk revivalists, power pop (a perennial genre) and dance-punk . Just recently some boy bands decided to go back to their original doo-wop roots, most notably, The Overtones.

Criticism

Since the 1990s, bands such as Backstreet Boys and LFO have disliked the term "boy band" and have preferred to be known as a "Male Vocal Group". Boy bands have been accused by the music press of emphasizing the appearance and marketing of the group above the quality of music, deliberately trying to appeal to a pre-teen audience and for conforming to trends instead of being original. Such criticisms can become extremely scathing. Boy bands are often seen as being short lived, though some acts such as The Jackson 5, the Backstreet Boys, Westlife and Take That have sustained lasting careers, and in some cases, successful comebacks.

Top selling boy bands

See also

Girl band

References

External links

Top 10 Boy Bands

Category:Musical groups Category:Pop music genres

Name	Jon Lajoie
Birth date
Birth place	Montreal, Quebec
Other names	MC Vagina, Matthew Desp,Simon "Wet Dick" Bergeron, Gofuck Yourself
Occupation	Comedian, musician, actor
Nationality	Canadian
Website	http://www.jonlajoie.com/

Jonathan "Jon" Lajoie (born August 21, 1980) is a Canadian comedian, actor, rapper, singer, musician and Internet celebrity from Montreal, Quebec.

Background

Lajoie was born in St Hubert, Qc and raised in Montreal, Quebec. His father is French-Canadian and his mother is English-Canadian. He graduated from Dawson College's theatre program in 2001. Since 1998, he has acted as an English-Canadian musician named Thomas Edison in Radio-Canada's French-Canadian sitcom L'auberge du chien noir.

Internet videos

Jon Lajoie first became popular through the music video "Everyday Normal Guy" , in which he, in ironic contrast to typical rap songs, sings about his bland, run-of-the-mill daily activities and his peaceful nature. Many of Lajoie's other videos, including The Bastard Breaks Up, "2 Girls 1 Cup Song", "Show Me Your Genitals", "Sunday Afternoon", and "High as Fuck", are also popular. Two of his music videos have developed into three-part series: "Everyday Normal Guy" was followed by "Everyday Normal Guy 2" and "Everyday Normal Crew", with the "WTF Collective" video supposedly being presented by "Normal Guy Productions"; and "Show Me Your Genitals" was followed by "Show Me Your Genitals 2: E=MC Vagina" and "I Kill People" (under the alias MC Vagina). His videos have received millions of views on several websites.

Lajoie has released other songs: "Cold-Blooded Christmas," which tells a story in which he mistakenly shoots and kills Santa Claus thinking he is an intruder, then cuts the body into pieces and burns them in his fireplace (only to find out that the Santa was his Uncle Bob); "Alone in the Universe", a style parody of Coldplay with lyrics that deal with masturbation; "Michael Jackson is Dead", a criticism of those who reversed their opinion of Jackson after his death; "Radio Friendly Song", poking fun at 'canned' 4 minute soft rock that is popular on the radio; and the aforementioned "WTF Collective", a parody of rap groups such as Wu-Tang Clan, G-Unit, and D12. In the video, Lajoie acts as 12 different MCs: MC Confusing, MC Insecure, MC Amnesia, MC Public Urination, MC Fatigue, MC Doesn't Know What Irony Is, MC Gets Sidetracked Easily, MC Lethal Weapons 1, 2, & 3, MC Lethal Weapon 4, MC Shit My Pants Frequently, MC Final Verse, and the Chorus Guy. In "WTF Collective 2", Jon returns as MC Confusing, MC Fatigue, MC Final Verse and as a suicidal Chorus Guy, along with 8 new MC's, one of whom acts as 2 MC's (MC Knows Too Many Facts About Bees and MC In The Closet Homosexual), bringing the total up to 9 new MC's. Also new to the WTF Collective 2 are: MC Historical Inaccuracy, MC Don't Know How To Pluralize Word(s), MC Canadian Stereotype, MC Homophobic Fucking Asshole, MC Extremely Inappropriate Rhymes, and MC Extremely Politically Correct. After the Chorus Guy commits suicide at the end of the song, he is replaced by MC Vagina. Lajoie also recently released a video for "Pop Song", directed by Julien Demers-Arsenault, and choreography by Mabel Palomino. The song plays with the 90's boy bands, and today's teens artists, such as Justin Bieber and the Jonas Brothers.

Lajoie's songs are often parodies of everyday things, such as stay-at-home dads, pathetic attempts at having sexual intercourse with girls, and doing chores on Sunday afternoons. His commercial parodies advertise undesirable products like "pedophile beards" and "rapist glasses" (other products advertised included "serial killer vans," "public masturbator trenchcoats," a "there's gotta be something wrong with that guy hat", and pencil crayons) or mundane human behaviour such as "breathing". He also created commercials for "being gay", "not giving a fuck", "Hands" and "mainstream media". His other projects include song parodies, such as a parody of The Beatles' "Blackbird", including vulgar lyrics that spoof McCartney's state of mind at the time.

An occasional source of humor in Lajoie's videos is the appearance of his friend Steve, an Arabic, overweight man with a thick beard who doesn't speak often, except to say the line, "You want some [more] of this, bitch?" In "Everyday Normal Crew", Steve refuses to say it until Lajoie pays him. In the same video, Lajoie claims that Steve will "probably have a heart attack sometime soon".

Lajoie's videos have also portrayed him as a fan of the Montreal Canadiens, especially in the video Canadiens vs. Flyers in which he saves a woman being harassed by a man wearing a Philadelphia Flyers T-shirt. At the end of the video, Lajoie refers to Carey Price as "Jesus" Price.

Beyond the Internet

The League

Lajoie currently has a role in the FX Network TV show called The League as Taco McArthur a perpetually stoned and unemployed musician. Created by the husband-and-wife duo of Jeff Schaffer (Curb Your Enthusiasm) and Jackie Marcus Schaffer, the show revolves around five guys who love fantasy football and they will do anything to win the league while dealing with other problems. Other ensemble cast members include Mark Duplass, Steve Rannazzisi, Nick Kroll, and Paul Scheer.

Comedy Central Presents

Jon Lajoie filmed an episode of Comedy Central Presents on November 7, 2009. It premiered on March 5, 2010. The same special aired uncensored as part of Comedy Central's Secret Stash on June 6 at 1:30 AM (EST). The special featured the world premiere of the video for his song "Pop Song".

Discography

{|class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%;" |- !Year !Cover !Name !Label |- |2009 | |You Want Some of This? |Normal Guy Productions |- |2010 | |I Kill People |Normal Guy Productions |}

References

External links

Official website

Lajoie on Funny or Die

The Lance – Jon Lajoie's transition from online to stage, Dec. 3, 2008

Jon Lajoie Conquers web with Coarse Songs – AOL Music

Category:1980 births Category:Living people Category:Canadian comedians Category:Canadian comedy musicians Category:Canadian Internet personalities Category:Canadian rappers Category:Canadian stand-up comedians Category:Anglophone Quebec people Category:Quebecers of French descent Category:People from Longueuil Category:Musicians from Montreal Category:Dawson College alumni

Name	Backstreet Boys
Img capt	Backstreet Boys
Background	group_or_band
Origin	Orlando, Florida, United States
Genre	Pop, pop rock, R&B;, teen pop, adult contemporary but the remaining members did not rule out a possible return of the singer. They rose to fame with their debut international album, Backstreet Boys (1996). In the following year, they released their second international album, Backstreet's Back (1997) and their debut album in the United States which continued the group's success worldwide. They rose to superstardom with their album Millennium (1999) and its follow-up album, Black & Blue (2000). After a three-year hiatus, the band regrouped and have since released three albums: Never Gone (2005), Unbreakable (2007) and This Is Us (2009).
Name	Boys, Backstreet

Category:World Music Awards winners Category:Sony/ATV Music Publishing artists Category:Sony BMG artists Category:Jive Records artists Category:2010s music groups Category:2000s music groups Category:1990s music groups Category:Musical quintets Category:Bubblegum pop Category:American dance music groups Category:American pop music groups Category:American boy bands Category:Musical groups from Orlando, Florida Category:Musical groups established in 1993

Name	Five
Background	group_or_band
Origin	London, England
Genre	Pop, Hip hop, dance, teen pop
Years active	1997–20012006–2007
Label	Sony BMG (UK)RCA/Arista (USA) (1997–2001)
Associated acts	Spice Girls, East 17, 'N Sync
Url
Past members	J BrownAbs BreenRitchie NevilleScott RobinsonSean Conlon

Five (also known as 5ive) were an English boyband put together in 1997 by the same team that managed the Spice Girls before they launched their career. The five members were Scott Robinson, Ritchie Neville, J Brown, Abs Breen and Sean Conlon. Signed by Simon Cowell, they enjoyed great success worldwide, particularly in the UK, most of Europe and Asia, Russia, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand and the USA. They split up on 27 September 2001, after selling almost 20 million records, and having 11 top ten singles and four top ten albums in the UK. Four of the five original members, Robinson, Breen, Neville and Brown briefly reformed the group without Conlon in September 2006, with a new management team headed by music manager Richard Beck. Seven months later, having secured a lucrative tour, but failing to gain enough record company interest, Five made an announcement via their official website they would again disband.

Biography

5ive: the debut

In 1997, an advertisement was placed in the UK performing arts newspaper The Stage, asking for young male singers/dancers to audition for a boyband-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, including Russell Brand, auditioned and they were finally narrowed down to only fourteen, five (5ive) of whom had arranged themselves into a group while waiting for their audition and subsequently were signed with BMG/RCA for a six-album deal. The group practiced and demoed their work at Trinity Studios in Knaphill – the same place the Spice Girls did a few years previously.

In November 1997, the band released their first single in the UK, "Slam Dunk (Da Funk)", which debuted at #10. The song was also released in the US in 1998 but had little chart success, although it was chosen as the new theme song by the NBA. In 1998 Five earned their first major international hit, "When The Lights Go Out", which cracked the US 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 group B*Witched, in Times Square in New York City, and on MTV's TRL. The debut album peaked at Number 27 in the US, and topped the charts in other countries worldwide, including the UK. "It's The Things You Do" was released in late 1998 in the US, only to receive a lukewarm reception. The group embarked upon a US tour with 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 mining the first record, "Got The Feelin'", "Everybody Get Up", and "Until The Time Is Through" were all released as singles throughout 1998. Reaching the top 5 in different countries around the world, the latter two singles each rose to the number two spot in the UK, and Five had well and truly made their mark in the world of boy band mania. A significant element in 5ive's popularity was their resemblance to American boy bands such as New Kids on the Block, Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync in their uptempo musical style and 'street' image, in contrast to Take That, 98 Degrees, and Boyzone, who at the time were primarily known for their ballads.

Invincible: the new millennium

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 Ritchie contracted chickenpox and had to be flown back to England.

After finishing the tour, the group continued to perform at many concerts in the UK, including Party in the Park with Queen. A re-issue of their album 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. In January 2001, Five went to perform at one of the biggest festivals in the world, "Rock in Rio" in Rio de Janeiro and Caracas, to an audience of almost half a million people.

Kingsize and the end of an era

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, band member Sean had fallen ill with glandular fever. The "Let's Dance" video was released with a life-size cardboard cut-out standing in for the ailing singer, and rumours that he had in fact left the band had to be quashed. Scott also temporarily left the band for a few weeks to be with his his childhood sweetheart fiancée Kerry Oaker, who was having troubles with her pregnancy. Their son, Brennan Rhys, was born on 11 July 2001, five weeks premature. The remaining three members, J, Abs and Ritchie, 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, Ritchie 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 #1, holding the top spot for two weeks. Kingsize debuted two weeks later at #3, and went on to achieve Gold status.

After a month of serious meetings with record management, Five came to the decision that they were "calling it a day", and the group disbanded on 27 September 2001, via an announcement on MTV Select. On 28 September, a day after the announcement, Scott married Kerry at a ceremony with all of his former bandmates in attendance.

In November 2001, "Closer to Me", featuring rare footage of the band, and "Rock the Party", with an animated video, were released as a double-A-side single. A Greatest Hits album followed.

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 records worldwide, including 7 million albums worldwide and two million in the United States, and picking up numerous awards along the way.

Life after Five and future

In November 2001, Five member Abs went to Australia for the major pop festival Rumba! and performed on stage with boy band Blue. About a year after the breakup, he enjoyed a brief but fairly successful solo career, releasing the album Abstract Theory in 2003, which produced three top 10 singles in the UK.

Ritchie Neville and Sean Conlon also initially attempted solo musical careers which seemed to stop almost before they began, although Ritchie has made occasional appearances as a TV guest star, presenter, actor and reality show celebrity contestant. Scott Robinson joined a local Essex radio station, EssexFM, in 2002 for a few months as a radio DJ. He starred in the UK regional theatre musical Boogie Nights 2 from late 2004 through most of 2005. Scott also became a father for a second time, with the birth of his second son on 13 September 2006. J had almost disappeared entirely from public view for nearly four years, but has recently resurfaced as a writer and producer, and also came third in the 2007 series of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!. Sean ultimately became the second group member to sign a solo recording deal, with Sony, and began work towards a new album. He has since been dropped by the label.

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, at around 11am GMT. 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 (Sean now being committed to his Sony deal), 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, and also planned to tour in 2007. As of January 2007, Five had completed half of their album and were looking to sign up to a record company with a new manager, Richard Beck. The album was expected to be released within the next few months. On 8 March 2007, at midnight, Five premiered one-minute clips of two 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 webpage and also on their MySpace page. Beck also secured an MTV documentary series titled 'Five - The Revive'.

On 19 May 2007, only eight months after reforming, having failed to secure a lucrative enough record deal, Five announced via their official website that the group will no longer be pursuing a comeback.

In 2009 Ritchie opened a myspace page for his new band RagztoRichez.

Discography

5ive (1998)

Invincible (1999)

Kingsize (2001)

Tours

Invincible Tour (February - May 2000)

Awards

(*) For source, see References.

BRIT Awards

Best Pop Act - 2000

MTV Europe Music Awards

The MTV Select Award - 1998

Silver Clef Awards

Best Newcomer - 2000

Smash Hits Poll Winners Party

Best New Act - 1997

Best Haircut (Scott) - 1997, 1998, 1999

Best British Band - 1998, 1999, 2000

Best Album - 1998

Best Cover - 1998

TMF Awards (Holland)

Best Single - 2000

Best Album - 2000

Best International Group - 2000

TV Hits Awards

Best New Band - 1999

Best Single (We Will Rock You (Queen cover)) - 2000

References

;General

5iveweb.com - Achievements — archived 21 December 2001; retrieved 10 November 2005

;Specific

See also

List of 1990s one-hit wonders in the United States

List of Number 1 singles from the 1990s (UK)

List of Number 1 singles from the 2000s (UK)

External links

World of Five - official website

Five's Official MySpace

5iveUSA

Five Fansite

Billboard charts

ARIA charts

The Official UK Charts

SonyBMG

RCA Records

Category:BRIT Award winners Category:2000s music groups Category:1990s music groups Category:British pop music groups Category:British boy bands Category:Musical groups established in 1997 Category:Musical groups disestablished in 2001 Category:Musical groups reestablished in 2006 Category:Musical groups disestablished in 2007