Five (stylized as 5ive) are an English boyband who were active between 1997 and 2001, 2006 and 2007 and now 2012 to the present. They were formed 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 were a manufactured band and held several rounds of auditions in London, in 1997. the auditions resulted in a provisional casting of 7 members with 2 standby members Peter Montpellier and Paul Taylor who were later cut when the final 5 were chosen in September. The band enjoyed great success worldwide, particularly in the UK, most of Europe and Asia, Russia, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand and the United States. They split up on 27 September 2001, after selling 20 million records worldwide, 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. Eight 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. In 2012, the band said that they were planning to reunite again, this time without member Jason "J" Brown.