Samantha Mumba

Samantha Mumba (born Samantha Tamanya Anne Cecelia Mumba on January 18, 1983 in Dublin, Ireland) is a female pop singer that began her musi career in the early 2000s.

Samantha was born to a Zambian father and an Irish mother. From the age of 3 to 15 years old, she attended the Billie Barry Stage School.

She was discovered on a RTE television talent show called “Let Me Entertain You” when she was 15 years old. Irish music executive Louis Walsh (who has managed Westlife & Boyzone) was impressed with Samantha’s singing talent & she was signed to Polydor Records.

For several months, Samantha moved from Ireland, the United Kingdom, Sweden & Denmark (where she recorded & co-wrote her debut album) and later dropped out of school to focus on her music career, stating that it was difficult for her to stay in school & work on music.
In June of 2000, she released her debut single “Gotta Tell You” which became a hit, peaking at #4 on the Billboard Hot 100, #5 on Billboard’s Top 40 Mainstream chart, #8 on Billboard’s Top 40 Tracks chart, #2 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music\Club Play Singles chart, #21 on Billboard’s Rhythmic Top 40 chart & #49 on Billboard’s Hot R&B\Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks chart, staying on the chart for 14 weeks.

Internationally, the song topped the charts in Ireland & New Zealand and peaked at #2 on the U.K. Singles chart, making it her highest charting single in the United Kingdom. It was certified Gold in Australia.
The second single from the album “Body II Body” peaked at #2 in Ireland and #5 in the United Kingdom. It was also moderately successful in Australia, Belgium, New Zealand, France, Switzerland & Sweden. The song didn’t chart in the United States because it was not released a single there.
In October of 2000, Samantha released her debut album “Gotta Tell You” which peaked at #4 on the Irish Albums chart and #9 on the U.K. Albums chart. It also peaked moderately in Australia & Switzerland.

When the album was released in the U.S. a year later, it managed to peak at #67 on the Billboard 200 and topped Billboard’s Heatseekers albums chart.
The third single from the album “Always Come Back to Your Love” topped the charts in Ireland, making it Samantha’s second number-one hit there. In the United Kingdom (where it was also certified Silver), the song managed to peak at #3 on the U.K. Singles chart. It was also moderately successful in New Zealand, Australia & Romania.
The fourth single “Baby, Come On Over (This is Your Night)” peaked at #49 on the Billboard Hot 100, #16 on Billboard’s Top 40 Mainstream chart, #20 on Billboard’s Top 40 Tracks chart and #14 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music\Club Play Singles chart.

Internationally, the song peaked at #2 on the Irish Singles chart and #5 on the U.K. Singles chart. It was also moderately successful in Australia, Switzerland & New Zealand.
The fifth single from the album “Don’t Need You (To Tell Me I’m Pretty)” was released exclusively in the United States and was featured on the movie soundtrack to “Legally Blonde.” The song failed to make any impact in the U.S. at all.
The last single from the album, a cover version of Divine’s 1999 number-one hit song “Lately” peaked at #3 on the Irish Singles chart and #6 on the U.K. Singles chart.

In 2001, Samantha and Aaron Carter performed at a concert at Disney MGM studios for a Disney Channel special called “Aaron Carter and Samantha Mumba in Concert.”

During that same year, she was nominated for a Grammy Award for “Best Remixed Recording, Non-Classical,” won Smash Hits Poll Winners’ Party “Best New Female” and was nominated for two awards at the MOBO Awards: “Best Album” & “Best Video” for “Gotta Tell You.”

In December of that same year, she released a Christmas EP called “Samantha Sings Christmas” which was given away as a free promotion in newspapers in Ireland & the United Kingdom.

In 2002, Samantha made her acting debut in the film “The Time Machine” along with her brother Omero.
During that same year, she released the single “I’m Right Here” which peaked at #3 on the Irish Singles chart and #5 on the U.K. Singles chart. It was also moderately successful in Australia, the Netherlands & Switzerland.

Around that same time, there were rumors that Samantha was going to release a sophomore album called “Woman” and there were tracks leaked to the Internet, but due to the flop of “I’m Right Here,” she was dropped from her record label. In February of 2007, Samantha confirmed the rumors, saying that there was never a follow-up album & the songs leaked online were her own attempts to find a new sound.

During 2002, Samantha appeared in a print advertisement for Reebox, was listed at #32 on Maxim Magazine’s “Hot 100” list and won a Meteor Music Award for “Best Female Singer.” She has also been the ambassador for the Dior Watch Collection.

In December of 2005, Samantha collaborated with Filipino singer Jay-R on the song “Just the Way You Are.” She also modeled for the Ultimo Per Amor range which was only exclusively available at Dunnes Stores in Ireland.
In October of 2006, a compliation album “The Collection” was released which featured songs from Samantha’s debut album, b-sides and two new tracks (including “I’m Right Here”).

Samantha sold tickets for a highly publicized comeback concert in Dublin, Ireland, but it was canceled in February of 2007.

During that same month, she confirmed on Irish talk show “The Late Late Show” that a camera crew has been following her on & off for six months for a reality show. In March of 2007, the show “Get Your Act Together with Harvey Goldsmith” premiered on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom & followed Samantha trying to revive her music career with Harvey as her mentor.

In January of 2008, Samantha appeared on the UK daytime television show “Loose Women” and discussed her hiatus from the music business & her appearane on the ITV reality TV show “Dancing on Ice.”

It was later announced that Samantha had almost completed recording a new album, hoping that it would be released in the summer of 2008.
During that same year, Irish DJ Micky Modelle remixed “Gotta Tell You” and Samantha re-recorded some of the vocals on it. It managed to peak at #36 on the U.K. dance music charts.

In an interview in January 2009, Samantha stated the album would be released in early 2010, but it was never released. She later confirmed her retirement from the music business to focus on her acting career.

In June of 2011, Samantha became engaged to policeman Torray Scales and they married in Los Angeles, California in February of 2012.
In June of 2013, Samantha announced her comeback to the music scene on Twitter. In August of that same year, she appeared on the RTE television show “The Hit” and released the single “Somebody Like Me” which peaked at #5 on the Irish Singles chart.
In February of 2014, Samantha released a new single “Only Just Begun.” In September of that same year.

Samantha currently resides in Los Angeles where she is working on new material and will also be starring in the film “Home” which is currently in post-production. In September of 2014, it was announced that she & her husband are expecting their first child due in March of 2015.

To see the music video for “Gotta Tell You,” go to:

To see the music video for “Body II Body,” go to:

To see the music video for “Always Come Back to Your Love,” go to:

To see the music video for “Baby, Come Over (This is Our Night),” go to:

To see a fan-made video for “Don’t Need You To (Tell Me I’m Pretty),” go to:

To see the music video for “Lately,” go to:

To see the music video for “I’m Right Here,” go to:

To see the music video for the remixed version of “Gotta Tell You,” go to:

To see a fan-made video for “Somebody Like Me” live,  go to:

To see a fan-made video for “Only Just Begun,” go to:

M2M

M2M were a female pop duo from Lorenskog, Norway that consisted of Marit Larsen (born Marit Elisabeth Larsen on July 1, 1983) & Marion Raven (born Marion Elise Ravn on May 25, 1984). Their name was chosen from a contest held for fans to give them a name for the band.
The girls have known each other since they were 5 years old. In 1996, they released a children’s music album in Norway called “Synger Kjente Barnesanger” under the name “Marit & Marion.”

In their teen years, the girls were discovered by Norwegian music producers Kai Robole & Kenneth M. Lewis and in 1998, they were signed to Atlantic Records.
In October of 1999, M2M’s debut single “Don’t Say You Love Me” was released to radio & was featured on the movie soundtrack to “Pokemon the First Movie.”

The song first received airplay on Radio Disney in the United States in November of 1999, but it wasn’t until early 2000 that it was officially released.

The song became a hit, peaking at #21 on the Billboard Hot 100, #5 on Billboard’s Singles Sales chart & #40 on Billboard’s Latin Pop Airplay & Latin Tropical\Salsa Airplay chart.

Internationally, the song peaked at #2 in their native Norway. It also topped the charts in South Korea & was moderately successful in the United Kingdom, Mexico, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the Netherlands, Sweden, France, Germany & Switzerland. It was certified Gold in the United States & Australia.
In March of 2000, the duo released their debut album “Shades of Purple” which peaked at #89 on the Billboard Hot 100 and topped Billboard’s Heatseekers albums chart.

Internationally, the album was certified Gold in Norway & Chile and Platinum in Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, South Korea, Thailand & Taiwan.
M2M’s follow-up single “Mirror Mirror” peaked at #62 on the Billboard Hot 100, #30 in Australia and #13 in Canada. It was certified Gold by the RIAA in the United States.
The third single from the album “The Day You Went Away” (which was originally sung in 1992 by Australian singer Wendy Williams) didn’t appear to make much
impact on the charts.

Two more singles from the album “Pretty Boy” and “Girl in Your Dreams” failed to chart as well.
The last single from the album “Everything You Do” peaked at #21 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music\Maxi-Singles Sales chart.

M2M performed a conert special at Epcot in Walt Disney World with boy band BBMak and on April 29, 2000, it was broadcast under the name “M2M and BBMak in Concert.” They also went on tour with Hanson as the opening act.
In 2002, M2M released their sophomore album “The Big Room” which managed to chart in Norway & Australia, but not in the United States. It was certified Platinum in Thailand, the Phillippines & Indonesia. It was released a year earlier in Asia where it received positive reception.
The first single from the album “Everything” peaked at #6 in Norway, #27 in Australia & #44 in New Zealand. It was released in the United States, but it failed to reach the Billboard Hot 100.
The follow-up single “What You Do to Me” only peaked at #46 in Australia, but didn’t chart anywhere else (including their home country).
The third single “Don’t” was only released in the U.S., but it didn’t make the charts at all.

The last single from the album “Wanna Be Where You Are” was only released in the Philippines. It’s unknown how or if it charted there. During that same year, M2M participated in the Pantene Pro-Voice concert series.

Due to low record sales, the duo was dropped from Atlantic Records while they were on tour with Jewel and after that, M2M broke up.

While Marit went on to finish up high school, Marion was immediately signed to a solo record deal with Atlantic Records. She wrote songs for artists such as Tammin Sursok, Maria Arredondo & Lindsay Lohan. She released her debut album in 2005.

These days, Marion & Marit are pursuing separate solo music careers. Most recently, Marion released her sixth album “Scandal, Vol. 2.” Marit’s fourth album “When the Morning Comes” topped the album charts in Norway in 2014.

To see the music video for “Don’t Say You Love Me,” go to:

To see the music video for “Mirror, Mirror,” go to:

To see the music video for “Everything You Do,” go to:

To see the music video for “The Day You Went Away,” go to:

To see the music video for “Pretty Boy,” go to:

To see the music video for “Girl in Your Dreams,” go to:

To see the music video for “Everything,” go to:

To see the music video for “What You Do to Me,” go to:

To see a fan-made video for “Don’t,” go to:

To see a fan-made video for “Wanna Be Where You Are,” go to:

Kaci Brown

Kaci Brown (born Kaci Deanne Brown on July 7, 1988 in Sulphur Springs, Texas) is a former teen pop singer from the 2000s.

As a child, Kaci began singing at church and in beauty pageants. She even won the title of “Little Miss Texas Grand Talent” when she was 10 years old. She would spend every weekend performing at oprys and venues in Texas.

Kaci’s mom began calling music publishers in Nashville, Tennessee to find original material for Kaci which led to her heading off to Nashville to record a six-song country music demo. After that, she and her family moved to Nashville when she was 12 years old.

At the age of 13, Kaci landed a publishing deal with Barbara Orbison’s Still Working Music where she collaborated with country music songwriters such as Tommy Lee James. When she began looking for a record deal as a country music artist, she was told by A&R executives that her voice sounded “too pop.”

After taking some time off, Kaci switched her focus from country music to pop music and began writing her own songs. In 2003, she met producer\songwriter Toby Gad, who was in Nashville working on other projects at the time. She spent most of 2004 writing and recording songs with Gad and later recorded an 11-track CD demo.

In the fall of 2004, she met and auditioned for various record labels and eventually signed a record deal with Interscope Records.
In August of 2005, Kaci released her debut studio album, “Instigator” which managed to peak at #13 on Billboard’s Top Heatseekers albums chart.
Her debut single, “Unbelievable” peaked at #27 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music\Club Play Singles chart and was also successful on Radio Disney.
The follow-up single, the title song peaked at #9 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music\Club Play Singles chart and #12 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Singles Sales chart.

Kaci was the opening act on the U.S. and Canadian leg of the Backstreet Boys’ “Never Gone” tour and was also featured on “The First Look Tour” featuring artists such as Marcos Hernandez and Fatty Koo. In later years, she went on to write songs for artists such as Pixie Lott, Greyson Chance, Sandra, Queensberry and Kato.
In 2012, she released the song, “Back in Time” which was featured on the Lifetime network reality series, “Dance Moms.” In April of that same year, she married Beau Dozier (the son of songwriter Lamont Dozier) and gave birth to their daughter, Dawson a month later.

In 2016, Kaci was signed to Notting Hill Music’s label, NHMM. A year later, she and English singer-songwriter Sam Gray formed a country music duo called Brown & Gray where they achieved success with their single, “Top Down.”

These days (according to research), Kaci resides in Nashville where she is still active with her music career and remarried to Sam Gray.

To follow Kaci Brown on Instagram, go to:
https://www.instagram.com/kacidbrown/?hl=en

To see Brown & Gray’s official website, go to:
http://brownandgraymusic.com/

To see a video for “Unbelievable,” go to:

To see a video for “Instigator,” go to:

To see a video for “Back in Time,” go to:

[Updated on 11\30\2021]

Hope Partlow

Hope Partlow (born Amanda Hope Partlow on May 31, 1988 in Drummonds, Tennessee) is a female pop singer who began her career in the mid-2000s.

Growing up, Hope sang country and gospel music songs in her hometown. She was also a popular act at the Strand Theatre. In her early teen years, a demo that she and her family self-produced made its way to aunt, who was working in Nashville, Tennessee as a songwriter. The demo later caught the attention of music producer and the CEO of Virgin Records, Matt Serletic.

When she was just 14 years old, she signed her first record deal with Virgin Records. Prior to the release of her debut album, Hope’s song, “Whatever Comes Our Way” was the theme song to the short-lived WB network series, “Living With Fran” and she was the opening act while on tour with Jesse McCartney in the summer of 2005.In September of 2005, she released her debut album, “Who We Are” which managed to peak at #45 on Billboard’s Heatseekers Albums chart.
The lead single, the title song managed to peak at #38 on Billboard’s Adult Top 40 chart, but missed the Billboard Hot 100.The follow-up single “Sick Inside” failed to make the charts at all. During that same year, Hope released the single, “Slow Down” as a digital release. In November of 2005 , Hope was dropped from Virgin Records due to the label’s restructuring.

After that, nothing much was heard from Hope until April of 2007 when she announced on her MySpace page that she teamed up with guitarist Ryan Wilson to start a music duo called Hope & Ryan. Three months later, it was announced on their MySpace page that they were searching for a female singer; together with singer Sara Rachele, they became a music act called The Love Willows.
In April of 2008, The Love Willows announced on MySpace that they had signed a record deal with Decca Reords and released their debut album, “Hey! Hey!”

In May of 2009, the group was removed from The Veronicas’ American summer tour for no reason; according to postings on MySpace between The Veronicas and Hope arguing about the situation, The Love Willows were never promised an entire three months on tour with them.

In August of that same year, the Love Willows were dropped from Decca Records. In July of 2014, they released a song and video called “Hey Now Girls.” Not long after that, Hope and Ryan split up.

In August of 2016, Hope posted a new track she recorded called “Anymore” on her personal Facebook page. A year later, she became engaged to musician Jake Germany (who performs under the stage name PHANGS) and they got married on May 4, 2018.

These days (according to research), Hope resides in Nashville with her husband and two children where she works as the community manager for a hair styling business called braidbabes.

To follow Hope on Instagram, go to:
https://www.instagram.com/hippiehope/?hl=en

To see a video for “Who We Are,” go to:

To see a video for “Sick Inside,” go to:

 

To see a video for “Whatever Comes Our Way,” go to:

[Updated on 11\30\2021]

Xavier

Xavier were an R&B\funk band from Hartford, Connecticut that consisted of singer\guitarist Ernest “Xavier” Smith, lead singer Ayanna Little, vocalists Emonie Branch & Chuck Hughes, guitarist Jeff Mitchell, percussionist Lyburn Downing, bassist Ralph Hunt and drummer Tim Williams.

Ernest began his music career in the ’60s with a later incarnation of The Coasters and later joined Wilson Pickett’s backing band, Midnight Movers. He also contributed to records by artists such as Isaac Hayes and the Temptations. He moved to Hartford in the late ’70s and joined a band called Shades of Direction (which was later changed to Xavier and LUV [meaning Life’s Universal Vibration]).
In 1982, they released their debut (and only) album “Point of Pleasure” on Liberty Records which peaked at #129 on the Billboard 200 and #16 on Billboard’s R&B Albums chart.
Their first single “Work That Sucker to Death” peaked at #104 on Billboard’s Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart and #6 on Billboard’s Hot Soul Singles chart, staying on the chart for 16 weeks. The song featured George Clinton & Bootsy Collins and even reached the U.K. Top 60.
The follow-up single “Do It to the Max” peaked at #59 on Billboard’s Hot Soul Singles chart, staying on the chart for only 9 weeks.

After that, it seems as if Xavier has faded into obscurity. It’s unknown what the members of the band are currently up to these days.

To see a fan-made video for “Work That Sucker to Death,” go to:

To see the music video for “Do it To the Max,” go to:

Olive

Olive was a trip-hop\electronic\dance group from England that consisted of producer\instrumentalist\songwriter Tim Kellett (born on July 23, 1964 in Knaresborough, Yorkshire, England), singer Ruth-Ann Boyle (born on April 26, 1970 in Sunderland, England) and producer\keyboard programmer Robin Taylor-Firth.

Tim was a member of Simply Red, playing keyboards & providing background vocals. After the band’s fourth album “Stars,” he left the band. Robin was a member of George Evelyn’s music project, Nightmares on Wax. Ruth-Ann used to sing in bands in her hometown of Sutherland. Tim & Robin met through a mutual friend who joined Simply Red as a bassist and together, they formed a musical collaboration.

By 1994, the duo had made three demos while searching for a singer. When Tim was on tour with Vini Riley’s The Durutti Column, playing keyboards, he was playing back pre-recorded keyboard samples on stage when he heard a vocal sample & the voice on the sample was Ruth-Ann (who provided the sample for The Durutti Column’s album “Sex and Death”).

Tim contacted Ruth-Ann (who was working at a bar at the time) about singing for the band & after an audition, she was in the band. After the demos were finished, they attracted the attention of record labels in the United Kingdom. In September of 1995, Olive signed with RCA Records.
In 1996, Olive released their debut album “Extra Virgin” which peaked at #15 on the U.K. Albums chart. In the U.S., the album managed to peak at #32 on Billboard’s Heatseekers Albums chart.
The first single from the album “Miracle” peaked at #41 on the U.K. Singles chart. It was originally released in 1996, but then it was re-released a year later as a remixed version. It peaked at #41 on the U.K. Singles chart and #10 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music\Club Play Singles chart.
The follow-up single “You’re Not Alone” topped the U.K. Singles chart for 2 weeks, making it their biggest hit to date.

The remixed version of the song managed to peak at #56 on the Billboard Hot 100, #9 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music\Maxi-Singles Sales chart and #5 on Billboard’s Dance Music\Club Play Singles chart. The song also won the “Best Dance Music” award at the 1997 Ivor Novello Awards.
The last single from the album “Outlaw” peaked at #14 on the U.K. Singles chart and #4 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music\Club Play Singles chart. A promotional single “You Are Nothing” was released, but it didn’t make any charts at all.

Robin later left the band to focus on Nightmares on Wax and other various projects, leaving only Tim & Ruth-Ann as a duo. Later on, RCA Records’ U.K. branch dropped Olive from their label, but they were signed by Madonna’s Maverick Records (supposedly after Madonna went to one of their concerts in Germany).
In May of 2000, Olive released their sophomore album “Trickle” which peaked at #28 on Billboard’s Heatseekers Albums chart, but missed the U.K. Albums chart.
They released a cover version of 10cc’s 1975 hit song “I’m Not in Love” which topped Billboard’s Hot Dance Music\Club Play Singles chart for a week in July of 2000. It was featured on the soundtrack to the film “The Next Big Thing” (which starred Madonna). It also peaked at #12 on Billboard’s Hot Dance Music\Maxi-Singles Sales chart.

Olive’s success started to fade & they ended up going into an hiatus. Tim focused on songwriting so he could spend time with his family. Ruth-Ann joined music group Enigma as a vocalist and in 2007, she released her debut solo album “What About Us” through iTunes.

In 2009, rapper Tinchy Stryder released his version of Olive’s hit song “You Are Not Alone” which sparked new interest in them.

During that same time, it was announced that Olive was working on their third album which was scheduled to be released in 2011, but as of 2014, it remains unreleased & it’s unknown what the current status of the album is.

These days, Robin Taylor-Firth resides in Spain and he recently signed a publishing deal with Sony Atv Music Publishing. Tim Kellett resides in Derbyshire, England where he owns a residential recording studio. It’s unknown what Ruth-Ann Boyle is up to these days.

To see a fan-made video for “You’re Not Alone,” go to:

To see the music video for “Miracle,” go to:

To see a fan-made video for “Outlaw,” go to:

To see the music video for “I’m Not in Love,” go to:

Zan

Zan (born William Aquart) was an R&B singer from the late 80s. Not much information is given about him, but he was signed to Warner Bros. Records & wrote songs for artists such as Basic Black, Robin S. and Today.
In 1989, he released his self-titled debut album which didn’t appear to make a lot of impact on the charts. Teddy Riley and Gene Griffin produced & arranged some of the songs on the album.

Two singles were released from the album: “House You” and “I Ain’t the One,” but neither of them made any music charts at all.
After that, nothing much was heard from Zan until 1994 when he & artist Wandalis released the single “You’re So Vain” on Pulse-8 Records. The single was released in the United Kingdom and peaked at #173 on the U.K. Singles chart.

These days, it’s unknown what Zan is up to these days and it appears as if he has faded into obscurity.

To see a fan-made video for “House You,” go to:

To see a fan-made video for “I Ain’t the One,” go to:

To see a fan-made video for “You’re So Vain,” go to: