All Saints

All Saints were a British all-female vocal group. Founded at the end of 1993, the group consisted of founding members Melanie Blatt and Shaznay Lewis, and sisters Nicole Appleton and Natalie Appleton. They became one of the most successful British pop groups of the 1990s, with 9 Top 10 singles (including five number ones), two platinum albums (including a number one), two gold albums and record sales in excess of 10 million worldwide.

Formation

Both Melanie Blatt and Shaznay Lewis started their career by singing backing vocals at Sarm West Studios, the ZTT recording studios near All Saints Road, London. In 1993 Blatt, Lewis and the original third member Simone Rainford decided to record together and chose to call themselves All Saints 1.9.7.5. after the street where they met and their year of birth. They were signed to ZTT Records.

In 1994, All Saints 1.9.7.5. performed for their first time at the Touch Magazine stage at the Notting Hill Carnival. They released two singles together, but they were not successful. Additionally, Rainford and Blatt had conflicting visions of the band's musical direction which caused tensions in the band.

In the summer of 1995, Rainford left the band and ZTT Records dropped the remaining duo from their label. Regardless, Blatt and Lewis set out to find a replacement for Rainford. Conducting many auditions, Blatt's father met Nicole Appleton whom she knew from her days at the Sylvia Young Theatre School. Appleton's sister Natalie subsequently became a fourth member of the group.

Subsequent career

After being united as a newly formed group in May 1996, the four met with Karl Gordon, a former band member of Outlaw Posse, who recorded a demo for "I Know Where It's At". The band began looking for a new record deal, but most record labels wanted to model them after The Spice Girls, who had become an international sensation by that time. The demo made its way to London Records, where John Benson finalised the recording deal in November 1996.

In summer 1997, their debut single "I Know Where It's At" reached #4 on the UK Single Charts. The second single, "Never Ever", launched them worldwide, peaking at #1 in the UK for 2 weeks and in Australia for 7 consecutive weeks. The single sold over a million copies in the UK alone (going Double Platinum) and won the group two BRIT Awards in 1998 for Best Single and Best Video. Their debut album All Saints was released on 24 November 1997, reaching #2 on the UK Album charts and eventually went 5x Platinum in the UK for sales of over 1.5 million copies. The third single from the album was the double A-side "Under the Bridge / Lady Marmalade" which was their second UK number one single, topping the charts in May 1998. The same month the album was re-released with a slightly different tracklist and after the success of "Never Ever" its Nice Hat Remix was replaced by the All Star Remix, "Let's Get Started" renamed to "If You Want To Party (I Found Lovin')" and "Beg" and "Trapped" were re-edited and re-mastered. "Bootie Call" was released as the fourth single off the album and their third UK number one. "War Of Nerves" was chosen as the fifth and final single which peaked at #7.

In November 1998, All Saints also won as Breakthrough Artist at the MTV Europe Music Awards in Milan and were one of the live acts, performing "Lady Marmalade" but without Blatt who was close to giving birth to her daughter.

All Saints returned to the charts in February 2000 with a new single called "Pure Shores", a collaboration with William Orbit taken from the soundtrack of the movie The Beach starring Leonardo DiCaprio. The single was their fourth number one in the UK and became the second best-selling single of 2000. It was also their first and only number one single in Ireland. The song was later performed at the 2000s MTV Europe Music Awards in Stockholm.

2000 also saw The Appleton Sisters and Blatt take part in their first movie. Honest was directed by former Eurythmics member Dave Stewart and was a black comedy set in swinging London in the late 60s with the girls playing three street wise sisters who head 'up West' to pursue a life of crime.

In October 2000, All Saints released a new single, "Black Coffee", which became their fifth and final number one in the UK. The song was performed and premiered worldwide in September in Italy when they took part at the Festivalbar show. Also in October 2000, their long-awaited second studio album Saints & Sinners was released and went straight to #1 on the UK album chart, eventually going Double Platinum in the UK. The third and final single from the album was "All Hooked Up" released in January 2001 and which peaked at #7 on the UK singles chart.

In early 2001, All Saints split up due to an increasing rivalry between band members. In November 2001, London Records released a greatest hits compilation entitled "All Hits". It contained all of the hit singles released from the band's two studio albums as well as Blatt's first solo single "TwentyFourSeven". The album peaked at #18 on the UK Albums Chart and was later certified Gold. On Sunday 31 August 2008, the album was given away for free as part of a promotion with The Mail on Sunday However, this version omitted TwentyFourSeven and their number one single "Under The Bridge". The songs "Dreams" and "I Feel You" which were hidden tracks on the original, were also presented as individual tracks.

Blatt