After the success of "Caught in the middle" (made it to number 2 in the UK) and the title track "make it good", A1 released Their 3rd, and final album (with all 4 members of a1) of the same name, On the 20th of May 2002. It made it to number 15 in the UK charts. Which I thought was unfair, as it was one of their best albums filled with their best written songs to date. All songs were written by the lads themselves and several of the instruments played by them too. A1 left the UK soon after that, to "Make it Good" in the US. They released "A1" their first American Album on the 25th of June. It had 7 tracks, which have all been previously released or put on albums back in the UK. They also made it big in France with singer Eve Angeli. "Nos Diffèrences" (or Caught in the middle) became the most played song on french radio for 8 years. Paul left a1 on October the 9th 2002, only a few weeks after a1 had made a big impression on America, France and several other countries. No one knows exactly why but he is stated saying "Personal reasons." The next day there was a webchat with the rest of A1 on a1-online.com, their home page, about the future of the band. They claimed to NOT be breaking up, and they said they totally understand the reason that Paul left and respect him still for it. The guys are, as far as I know, still good friends. A1, after 5 years, left their record Company "sony". They said "After five solid years of A1, each of us have recently begun working on individual projects which means that we need to take a temporary break from the band and to part company with Sony Music."
Ben is making his own solo demo album at the moment, so he will be searching for a new record company.
Mark is writing songs with people at the moment, so we might have to look at for him in the near future. He might even just write songs for other people.
Christian has formed a record company in his native land Norway which is going to be releasing singles from a new Norweigen artist called Maria Arredondo.They also said 'We have had four very successful years with Sony but we feel that the time is right to move on. We know there’s always a lot of speculation when band members undertake individual projects but we can assure you this is not the end for a1. We will be playing at the Smash Hits tour in Nottingham and Newcastle this autumn, have several other gigs lined up and are already working on new material together.’
So, All the best for the band and especially for you Ben Mark and Christian. All a1 fans are beind you, 110% Good luck!!
Source: http://www.a1-home.com
