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Atomic Kitten
(Kerry Katona, 20, Liz McClarnon, 19 and Natasha Hamilton 18) pounced onto the scene in late 1999 when their debut single 'Right Now' jumped straight into the UK Top 10. On a one-way mission to provide perfect pop, this troublesome trio has proceeded to let nothing stand in their way.
Kerry, Natasha and Liz are all natural performers with bucket loads of attitude, great tunes and moves more funky than James Brown's trousers! Based in Liverpool, the city responsible for pop phenomena (The Beatles, Frankie Goes To Hollywood and Atomic Kitten, to name a few) the girls have already created quite a name for themselves.
Kicking off their plans for global pop domination Atomic Kitten firmly ensconced their combination of fab pop and their fiery and exciting attitude into the hearts and minds of the British record buying public. Their first single 'Right Now' spent 7 weeks in the Top 40 at the end of 1999 and defied the critics who thought releasing a debut at such a busy time of year was a big risk. In fact, risk and fun is what really sets Atomic Kitten apart from their pop peers.
Their follow-up - the infectious and melody-laden 'See Ya', released in March of 2000 - crash-landed into the UK charts at number 6. The track perfectly picked up the lyrical theme that courses through every Atomic Kitten song. Having started the ball rolling so emphatically here in the UK, the girls are adding to their success with barnstorming TV and radio performances abroad. 'See Ya' is currently being used to front Fiat's campaigns in France and Italy and was also heard in cinemas worldwide last Summer in movies such as 'Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends' and 'Bring It On'.
Throughout 2000 the Kittens enjoyed hugely successful visits to Japan where the band recorded a TV ad for a leading brand of chocolate and also rush-released their debut album 'Right Now' due to the incredible demand for anything Kitten! They have since become Japan's biggest new international act both in terms of sales and profile. They are also the chosen international band at the forefront of MTV Asia's new campaign which began in Beijing in June and saw the Kittens reaching an incredible audience of 675 million people across Asia with a roof-raising performance on the MTV Asia awards alongside Aqua and Alanis Morissette.
The band's third UK single 'I Want Your Love' saw the Kittens achieve their third consecutive Top Ten hit. An incredible TV campaign and the main support slot on the huge Steps tour helped the single to firmly establish the band as one of the most successful and exciting pop groups of the last 12 months.
'Follow Me' the band's 4th single was released in October. This R 'n' B tinged anthemic pop song displayed a different side to the girls' musicality and hinted at the coming albumıs musical versatility. Their debut album 'Right Now' was finally released in October of last year. The album is a fantastic collection of vivacious pop songs, crossover dance tracks and shimmering ballads, one of which, 'Cradle', has already been featured on the recent 'Maybe Baby' movie soundtrack album. The album also includes the four hit singles 'Right Now', 'See Ya', 'I Want Your Love' and 'Follow Me'.
After completing another sell-out UK tour with Steps at the end of 2000, the girls won the prestigious Best Newcomer Award at both the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party and the Disney Awards.
As the girls kicked off 2001 with promotion for their brilliant single 'Whole Again', founder member Kerry Katona announced her pregnancy with fiancé Bryan McFadden and that regrettably she would leave the band in order to relax and have a stress free pregnancy. During the weeks before Kerry's announcement the girls had been working fast behind the scenes to add another Kitten to the litter. The natural choice was their good friend Jenny Frost, 22, who they had known and been mates with for sometime. Jenny had been a member of the girl band Precious and had played at many of the same shows and been on many of the same tours that the girls had been on.
Kerry, Natasha and Liz instantly became friends with Jenny when they first met and now sheıs proving to be the purr-fect choice.
On leaving the band Kerry said: " I will miss the girls so much. I have had such a fantastic time in Atomic Kitten over the last year. At the moment I just want to be a mum and I donıt want to work at the same time because I need complete rest for a healthy baby. I think leaving Atomic Kitten is the most sensible thing to do, I'm going to sit at home watch TV, eat chocolate and take it one day at a time. I've had a good cry with Liz and Tash and they are so supportive. We talk all the time and I just know we'll always be really close. I think it's great that Jenny is joining. I've known her for ages and sheıs very funny, she's just like the other girls. I'm devastated at going but I'm thrilled for Jenny, she's a great pal and I know she'll make a great Kitten".
'Whole Again', was released on 29 January in the UK debuting at #1 where it has stayed for two weeks running!! On top of this the girls have just been nominated for Best Newcomer at this yearıs prestigious BRIT Awards.
From a standing start just some 14 months ago Atomic Kitten have booted their way into the national pop psyche at a time when virtually all people who love pop music had given up on having anything new and challenging to get their teeth into. Judging by the reactions of fans and pundits young and old, Atomic Kitten have managed to re-write or break one or two pop rules -
a process which the majority of music lovers seem to have thoroughly enjoyed!
Read the recent Atomic Kitten Interview ...
CLICK HERE
Courtesy of Virgin Music
www.virginmusic.com.au
www.atomickitten.com
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