Atomic Kitten enjoyed incredible success earlier this year when Whole Again rocketed straight to the number one spot staying there for an amazing four weeks, beating off competition from the likes of Irish mega-stars U2! Kitten fever soon spread internationally, they are currently number 1 in Germany, New Zealand and Austria, top 10 in Australia, Belgium, Holland, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey and still top 30 in the UK after some amazing 16weeks, four of which were spent at number 1!
Chart toppers Atomic Kitten (Jenny Frost 23 replacement for Kerry Katona, Liz McClarnon 20, and Natasha Hamilton 18) pounced onto the scene in late 1999 when their debut single Right Now jumped straight into the UK Top 10. On a one-way mission to provide perfect pop this troublesome trio have proceeded to let nothing stand in their way. In January 2001 their latest single Whole Again hit the UK chart at Number 1.
Jenny, who joined the band in January 2001, Natasha and Liz are all natural performers with bucket loads of attitude, great tunes and moves more funky than James Brown抯 trousers. Based in Liverpool, the city responsible for pop phenomena (The Beatles, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, OMD and now Atomic Kitten! - to name a few) the Kitten girls are now well amongst some of this countries best pop acts.
Kicking off their plans for global pop domination Atomic Kitten firmly ensconced their combination of fab pop and their fiery and exciting attitude into the hearts and minds of the British record buying public. Their first single Right Now spent 7 weeks in the Top 40 at the end of 1999 and defied the critics who thought releasing a debut at such a busy time of year was a big risk. In fact, risk and fun is what really sets Atomic Kitten apart from their pop peers.
Their follow-up - the infectious and melody-laden See Ya, released in March of 2000 - crash-landed into the charts at number 6. The track perfectly picked up the lyrical theme that courses through every Atomic Kitten song. Having started the ball rolling so emphatically here in the UK, the girls are adding to their success with barnstorming TV and radio performances abroad. See Ya is currently being used to front Fiat's campaigns in France and Italy and was also heard in cinemas worldwide last Summer in movies such as 慣homas the Tank Engine and Friendsand 態ring It On
Throughout 2000 the Kittens enjoyed hugely successful visits to Japan where the band recorded a TV ad for a leading brand of chocolate and also rush-released their debut album Right Now due to the incredible demand for anything Kitten! They have since become Japan's biggest new international act both in terms of sales and profile. They are also the chosen international band at the forefront of MTV Asia's new campaign which began in Beijing in June and saw the Kittens reaching an incredible audience of 675 million people across Asia with a roof-raising performance on the MTV Asia awards alongside Aqua and Alanis Morissette.
The band's third UK single I Want Your Love saw the Kittens achieve their third consecutive Top Ten hit. An incredible TV campaign and the main support slot on the huge Steps tour helped the single to firmly establish the band as one of the most successful and exciting pop groups of the last 12 months.Follow Me the band's 4th single was released in October. This R 憂B tinged anthemic pop song displayed a different side to the girlsmusicality and hinted at the coming album抯 musical versatility. Their debut album Right Now was finally released in October of last year. The album is a fantastic collection of vivacious pop songs, crossover dance tracks and shimmering ballads, one of which, Cradle, has already been featured on the recent 慚aybe Babymovie soundtrack album. The album also includes the four hit singles Right Now, See Ya, I Want Your Love and Follow Me.
After completing another sell-out UK tour with Steps at the end of 2000, the girls won the prestigious Best Newcomer Award at both the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party and the Disney Awards.
As the girls kicked off 2001 with promotion for their brilliant number one smash hit single Whole Again, founder member Kerry Katona announced her pregnancy with fiancBryan McFadden and that regrettably she would leave the band in order to relax and have a stress free pregnancy. During the weeks before Kerry抯 announcement the girls had been working fast behind the scenes to add another Kitten to the litter. The natural choice was their good friend Jenny Frost, 22, who they had known and been mates with for sometime. Jenny had been a member of the girl band Precious and had played at many of the same shows and been on many of the same tours that the girls had been on. Kerry, Natasha and Liz instantly became friends with Jenny when they first met and now she抯 proving to be the purr-fect choice.
On leaving the band Kerry said: " I will miss the girls so much. I have had such a fantastic time in Atomic Kitten over the last year. At the moment I just want to be a mum and I don抰 want to work at the same time because I need complete rest for a healthy baby. I think leaving Atomic Kitten is the most sensible thing to do, I抦 going to sit at home watch tv, eat chocolate and take it one day at a time. I抳e had a good cry with Liz and Tash and they are so supportive. We talk all the time and I just know we抣l always be really close. I think it抯 great that Jenny is joiningI抳e known her for ages and she抯 very funny, she抯 just like the other girls. I抦 devastated at going but I抦 thrilled for Jenny, she抯 a great pal and I know she抣l make a great Kitten".
Whole Again, was released on the29th January and has become Atomic Kitten抯 biggest hit so far. Staying at number one for an amazing four weeks and selling in excess of half a million copies.
Following on from the phenomenal world-wide success of Whole Again, pop抯 feistiest trio return for another heavyweight assault on the charts. On July 23rd Atomic Kitten released their new single Eternal Flame.
Originally a hit for The Bangles some ten years ago Jenny, Natasha and Lil have brought the track bang up-to-date and added their own special sound to make this song likely to be one of the biggest hits of this Summer. Tinged with an R & B feel the girls deliver the vocals beautifully and really prove themselves as singers.
From a standing start just some 18 months ago Atomic Kitten have booted their way into the national pop psyche at a time when virtually all people who love pop music had given up on having anything new and challenging to get their teeth into. Judging by the reactions of fans and pundits young and old, Atomic Kitten have managed to re-write or break one or two pop rules - a process which the majority of music lovers seem to have thoroughly enjoyed!
The Kittens will be looking to kick off their US promotion later this year in the Autumn.
