In 1999, having met at an audition for a boy band managed by Simon Cowell, Lee Ryan and Antony Costa kept in touch and a year later invited Duncan James to start a band. It wasn’t long before the trio impressed Daniel Glatman, who later became their manager, and invited Ryan’s flatmate Simon Webbe to complete the line up. The band signed a contract with Innocent Records and Blue’s output was put in reliable hands of numerous songwriting/production teams. Penned by Norwegian pop team Stargate, Blue’s debut single “All Rise” took the UK by storm and rose to No. 4 in the UK Singles chart in May 2001. The band’s subsequent single “If You Come Back” became Blue’s first No. 1 single and paved the way for their debut album “All Rise” issued in December 2001. The album, aided by the Christmas season, topped the UK Albums chart and went on to sell over 1.8 million copies.
Like its predecessor Blue’s sophomore album “One Love” debuted the UK Albums chart at No. 1 spawning the singles “One Love”, “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word” featuring Elton John, and “U Make Me Wanna”. The album cemented the group’s position in the sugary-pop world, however borrowed influences from rock, funk, R&B and soul. The band’s third full-length album “Guilty” appeared in 2003 and once again topped the UK Album Chart, however showed signs that the Blue bubble losing momentum. Led by the title track “Guilty” and subsequent “Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours” featuring Stevie Wonder and Angie Stone, the album went on to sell over a million copies.
The greatest hits album “Best of Blue” hit the shelves towards the tail end of 2004, spawning the singles “Curtain Falls”, “Get Down on It”, and “Only Words I Know”. In 2005 the band announced a hiatus, allowing members to focus on their solo careers. Blue returned in 2009 with a performance at the Silverstone Classic festival in August and announced they would represent the UK at the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest with their single “I Can”. In 2012 the band embarked on a tour alongside A1 and Jeff Timmons entitled “Boybands: The Greatest Hits Tour.
With contributions from R&B singers Ne-Yo and Bruno Mars, Blue released their fourth studio album “Roulette” in April 2013. Led by their single “Hurt Loves”, the album charted at No. 13 in the UK Albums chart and No. 14 in Germany. In support of “Roulette” the band embarked on “The Roulette Tour”, Blue’s fourth headlining tour across the UK and Europe. Blue subsequently released the album “Colours” in March 2015, led by the single “King of the World”.
Like Five - or should that be 5ive? - before them, Blue proved to be one of those boy bands who enjoyed huge success within a relatively short-lived period of time; it’s incredible to think that their initial run actually only lasted five years, between 2000 and 2005, because they packed so much commercial triumph into that period; all three of their albums during that period went platinum multiple times, and they spawned a slew of number one singles, too; the R&B-tinged sound that the group aimed for set them apart from most of their contemporaries at the time, and tapped into the success of that genre whilst simultaneously exploiting the typical pop market. After splitting in 2005 to pursue other projects - Lee Ryan and Simon Webbe had briefly successful solo careers, whilst Antony Costa was best-known for being ridiculed on Never Mind the Buzzcocks, they made several aborted attempts to reform before ITV2’s The Big Reunion catapulted them back into the spotlight; they managed to route a tour of their own with a full live band late last year, and they’ll swap those intimate venues for an arena jaunt along with the likes of Five later this year, as part of their Big Reunion commitments.
Joeg_67
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