Liberty X
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Origin | London, England |
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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]
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
2000–2001: Popstars, formation and name change
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
2001–2002: Thinking It Over and touring
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,
2003–2005: Being Somebody and record label change
Following a short break, the group released "
The group took a hiatus following record-label issues, and each member decided to work on different individual projects.
2005–2007: X and split
In mid-2005, it was announced that Liberty X had left
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
Liberty X returned in June 2006 with the single "
All of us have separate projects we're working on and are excited about. We're still the best of friends and we'll still be doing all the dates on the current club tour. Also, we still intend to come together sometimes as Liberty X, for one-off events.[9][10]
The group performed their last gig on 2 September 2007, alongside
2012–2014: Full members reunion
On 18 October 2012, it was announced that Liberty X, along with five other pop groups of their time –
Tickets for the Hammersmith Apollo reunion gig went on sale shortly after the premiere of the first episode of The Big Reunion and sold out in less than five minutes. Due to this, it was confirmed that a full UK tour was in the works, later confirmed again by Heaton on her Twitter account.[16] The bands were originally only supposed to perform a one-off concert at London's Hammersmith Apollo on 26 February 2013, but when the entire show sold out in under five minutes shortly after the premiere of the first episode on 31 January 2013, rumours circulated that producers of the show were planning to tour the concert around the UK.[17] On 11 February, it was confirmed that due to high demands for tickets and the popularity of the show, an arena tour around the UK would be taking place from 3–12 May 2013.[18] On 27 March 2013 it was announced that the bands would perform a mini Christmas tour in December 2013.[19]
On 29 March 2013, Heaton confirmed that Liberty X would yet again disband following the concerts, saying: "We talked about it, and we thought we've got so many children between us and quite a few things individually going on that we didn't want the pressure to be successful again. We just wanted to have fun. I know some of the other bands are planning to release new material but Liberty X, we are not planning to do that. We are just enjoying it for what it is. We're going to enjoy the gigs, all the performing and have fun and not take it too seriously – and know at the end, we go back to being mums and dads to our children. That's how it's different."
In 2014, Liberty X signed to 365 Artists Management and toured at the Summer Tour.[22] In 2016, Simm auditioned for the fifth series of The Voice UK, making it clear that he left Liberty X as he felt they were officially over since 2014. He was mentored by coach Ricky Wilson and subsequently won the competition.[23][24][25][26][27][28]
2017–present: Girls reunion
In 2017, Heaton, Taylor and Young reformed Liberty X as a three-piece girl group[29] and have continued touring at music festivals and Pride events since.[30][31] On 4 June 2023, the group performed a headline show at 'Mighty Hoopla'.[32]
Members
- Michelle Heaton (2001–2006, 2013–2014, 2017–present)
- Kelli Young (2001–2006, 2013–2014, 2017–present)
- Jessica Taylor (2001–2006, 2013–2014, 2017–present)
- Kevin Simm (2001–2006, 2013–2014)
- Tony Lundon (2001–2006, 2013–2014)
Discography
- Thinking It Over (2002)
- Being Somebody (2003)
- X (2005)
Tours
Headlining
- Just a Little Tour (2002–2003)
- Being Somebody Tour (2003–2004)
- The X Tour (2006)
- Summer Tour (2014)
- Liberty X Live (2017–present)
Co-headlining
- Popstar Tour (2001) (with Hear'Say)
- )
References
- ^ Morgan Britton, Luke (6 February 2017). "Liberty X respond after disappointing fans by playing just two songs at reunion show". NME. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
- ^ Liberty X (2 February 2014). "Liberty X – Thank you to everyone that came to see us last night, we had such a laugh! So as promised, a little announcement". Facebook. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
- ^ Corner, Lewis (21 October 2016). "Whatever happened to Liberty X?". Digital Spy. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
- ^ C, Jeff (7 October 2002). "Liberty X Vacation In Mauritius | popdirt.com". popdirt.com. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
- ^ "The Kylie hit you can't get out of your head". BBC News. 31 December 2012. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
- ^ Pattison, Louis (12 September 2005). "Richard X vs Liberty X : Being Nobody". NME. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
- ^ Wade, Ian (3 August 2016). "The Human League – 10 of the best". the Guardian. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
- ^ "Smoke alert ruins Liberty X show". BBC News.
- ^ Levine, Nick (24 May 2007). "Liberty X split up". Digital Spy. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
- ^ "Liberty X split up". NME. 21 May 2007. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
- ^ "Liberty X video exclusive". Wiltshire Times. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
- ^ Copsey, Robert (1 May 2012). "Liberty X reuniting for new album, tour?". Digital Spy. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
- ^ Goodacre, Kate (18 October 2012). "Atomic Kitten, 5ive, B*Witched, 911, more to reunite for ITV2 show". Digital Spy.
- ^ Harvey, Joanna (18 October 2012). "Atomic Kitten, 5ive, Liberty X, 911, B*Witched and The Honeyz are all to reunite for ITV2 show The Big Reunion". Daily Mirror.
- ^ "Atomic Kitten and 5ive set to reform for ITV2's The Big Reunion". Metro. UK. 18 October 2012.
- ^ "Big Reunion UK Tour". Digital Spy. 3 February 2013.
- ^ Daniels, Colin (3 February 2013). "'Big Reunion' UK arena tour in the works". Digital Spy. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
- ^ Nissam, Mayer (11 February 2013). "5ive, Atomic Kitten, B*Witched, Liberty X, 911 for Big Reunion arena tour". Digital Spy. Retrieved 11 February 2013.
- ^ "5ive, B*Witched, Atomic Kitten for 'Big Reunion' Christmas Party tour". Digital Spy. 27 March 2013. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
- ^ "Heaton defends Blue over tour rumours". Digital Spy. 30 March 2013.
- ^ "Michelle Heaton's second baby joy". Lorraine. itv.com. 12 September 2013. Archived from the original on 24 September 2013. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
- ^ Webster, Samantha (2 February 2014). "Michelle Heaton gets rushed to hospital hours before Liberty X gig, still performs with bump on board". OK!. Northern & Shell. Retrieved 2 February 2014.
- ^ Walker, Danny; Cooper, Lorna (30 January 2016). "Can Kevin Simm WIN The Voice? Former Liberty X singer puts the coaches in a spin". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
{{cite news}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ Copson, Josie (10 April 2016). "Liberty X's Kevin Simm has only gone and won The Voice". Cosmopolitan. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
- ^ "Liberty X Interview Birmingham Gay Pride 2016". YouTube. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Liberty X – Just a Little Birmingham Gay Pride 2016". YouTube. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Liberty X – Song 4 Lovers Birmingham Gay Pride 2016". YouTube. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
- ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Liberty X – Being Nobody Birmingham Gay Pride 2016". Retrieved 28 May 2016 – via YouTube.
- ^ Bychawski, Adam (18 January 2017). "Liberty X are reforming as a girl band". NME. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
- ^ Sigodo, Melissa (18 August 2021). "Where Liberty X are now, what they look like and net worths". MyLondon.
- ^ Benson, Rhianna (5 July 2022). "Michelle Heaton admits 'Booze gave me the confidence to perform with Liberty X'". OK!. Retrieved 10 July 2022.
- ^ Hunt, El (5 June 2023). "Mighty Hoopla 2023 review: a joyful celebration of all things pop". NME. Retrieved 1 July 2023.