Liberty X
Liberty X (originally called Liberty) are an English/Irish pop group originally consisting of Michelle Heaton, Tony Lundon, Kevin Simm, Jessica Taylor and Kelli Young. Since 2017, Heaton, Taylor and Young have performed as a girl group trio.[1]
Liberty X
London, England
- 2001–2007
- 2012–2014
- 2017–present
The group was formed by the five finalists of the 2001 ITV talent show Popstars who failed to make it into the winning group Hear'Say. The group released their debut album, Thinking It Over, on 27 May 2002 which featured their biggest single "Just a Little", which gave them international success. They released their second studio album Being Somebody a year later on 3 November 2003, although not matching the success of their debut. Following disappointing sales, the group were dropped and later signed with Virgin, released a final studio album X on 10 October 2005 and disbanded in 2007. Liberty X went on to achieve ten consecutive UK Top 20 singles, and various charting singles worldwide, leading to greater commercial success than Hear'Say. In 2013 the original line up toured until 2014.[2]
History[edit]
2000–2001: Popstars, formation and name change[edit]
While the five winning contestants of Popstars formed Hear'Say, the five runner-up contestants—Michelle Heaton, Tony Lundon, Kevin Simm, Jessica Taylor and Kelli Young—formed the group Liberty. The name Liberty was chosen to reflect the freedom the members experienced following their participation in Popstars. Amidst pejorative media commentary (including the term "Flopstars"), the act signed a multi-million-pound record contract with Richard Branson's independent record label, V2 Records.[3]
Shortly after forming, Liberty received a legal challenge in the UK High Court from a funk R&B band, also called "Liberty", who achieved success in the 1990s, including being awarded Capital Radio Band of the Year, playing Wembley Arena, European tours and the release of albums in the US, Europe and UK. The original Liberty claimed that the newly formed Liberty was taking advantage of the goodwill that had been created by the former's success (known in English law as the "tort of passing off"). The final judgment was in favour of the funk R&B band and the ex-Popstars then asked readers of UK tabloid newspaper The Sun to suggest a new name.[4] The winning name was "X Liberty", but the group used the entry as the basis for the official title, Liberty X.
2001–2002: Thinking It Over and touring[edit]
On 24 September 2001, whilst the group were known as Liberty, they released their debut single, "Thinking It Over". It was an instant hit, reaching number five on the UK Singles Chart; the single's physical release featured remixes by the Wideboys and Boy George. The follow-up single, "Doin' It", released on 3 December 2001, peaked at number fourteen. Following a five-month gap, in which the band were involved with the High Court dispute regarding their original name, their third single, "Just a Little", was released. That song reached number one in the UK and became the ninth best-selling single of 2002, as well as becoming a top ten hit in several other countries. It was also the fifth most played song on the radio of the 2000s.[5]
"Just a Little" preceded the release of Liberty X's debut album, Thinking It Over (originally called To Those Who Wait). The album reached number three on the UK Albums Chart, eventually selling over one million copies worldwide. Two more hit singles were released from the album, the first being a cover of the 1989 track by electro funk group Mantronix, "Got To Have Your Love"; Mantronix's founding member, Kurtis Mantronik, remixed the Liberty X version for the single release, which peaked at number two in the UK. The final single was "Holding on for You", released in December 2002. The single peaked at number five. During 2002, the group headlined their first arena tour.
2003–2005: Being Somebody and record label change[edit]
Following a short break, the group released "Being Nobody", a mash-up of Chaka Khan's "Ain't Nobody" and The Human League's "Being Boiled". The single was produced by Richard X and released under the billing of Richard X vs Liberty X, featured on Richard X's album Richard X Presents His X-Factor Vol. 1.[6][7] "Being Nobody" reached number three on the UK singles chart. Proceeding their second album, Being Somebody, the group released "Jumpin", which peaked at number six. Being Somebody was released in November 2003, debuting at number twelve on the UK albums chart, but sold around 200,000 copies, significantly less than sales of their debut. The group released the album's final single, "Everybody Cries", in January 2004. The music video featured the group walking along disused railway lines, for which they were criticised by safety organisations. The single underperformed, reaching number thirteen.
The group took a hiatus following record-label issues, and each member decided to work on different individual projects. Kevin Simm appeared on Channel 4's The Games, competing in a series of sporting events (in which he placed second overall, behind Philip Olivier). Michelle Heaton appeared on ITV's ill-fated Celebrity Wrestling. Jessica Taylor appeared on BBC's Strictly Ice Dancing. Tony Lundon and Kelli Young took the time to work on new tracks for the band's third album, whilst producing and writing for other artists. During this period, The Sun newspaper reported that the group were to re-release Being Somebody with a cover of the 1990 hit "Back to Life", but this never materialised. They also released a cover version of the Kool & The Gang song "Fresh" which was released in a selection of European countries, but not the UK. It peaked at number 35 in France.
2005–2007: X and split[edit]
In mid-2005, it was announced that Liberty X had left V2 Records and signed to independent label Unique Corp Records. Their third album, X, was released in October 2005. The first single, "Song 4 Lovers" (featuring Rev Run of Run–D.M.C., who also co-wrote the track), had been recorded when they were signed to V2, but they re-recorded it because V2 did not consider the song suitable as a Liberty X single. It was released in September 2005 and was well-received, achieving a large amount of television and radio airplay; it entered the UK charts at number five to become their first top ten hit in two years. X, however, peaked at number 27, failing to match the success of "Song 4 Lovers", and sold just 10,000 copies in the UK.
In late October, the group announced they had been asked to record the official 2005 Children in Need single, so they teamed up with producer Rod Gammons to record two tracks for double A-side release: "A Night to Remember" (a cover of the Shalamar song) and "Everybody Dance" (a (Chic cover). The group performed both singles live on the night, 18 November 2005. The double A-side single entered at number six in the UK; it also peaked at number 16 in France, becoming their biggest hit there since "Just a Little".
In May 2006, the band were featured in the line up of Aberystwyth University May ball, alongside Chesney Hawkes and BodyRockers. Their set was cut short when a smoke bomb was set off during the first two minutes, filling the room with smoke. Firefighters gave the all-clear after 50 minutes, but Liberty X failed to reappear. Students were told the band were not returning to finish their set, met by jeers from the crowd, who had paid £37 each for the evening.[8]
Liberty X returned in June 2006 with the single "X", a remixed version of the X album track. It peaked at number 47. The re-release of the album, which contains "A Night to Remember" and the new version of "X", failed to attract significant consumer interest. "X" also reached just number 89 in France. Despite rumours of splitting, Liberty X announced in 2006 that they were still together but concentrating on solo projects. Michelle Heaton wrote on the group's official site that they would be releasing a new single in the new year (2007), a song from a forthcoming film, but this did not happen. Heaton married her partner of four years, Andy Scott-Lee, Taylor got engaged to cricket star Kevin Pietersen, Simm appeared on Channel 4's The Games: Champion of Champions (competing for his team), and Lundon wrote tracks for what would have been the band's fourth album. On 20 May 2007, Liberty X posted a message on their website that said they would no longer record together after the tour:
Headlining
Co-headlining