Atomic Kitten are a British BRIT Award-nominated pop girl group formed in Liverpool in 1997 by Andy McCluskey of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark. The original line-up featured Liz McClarnon, Kerry Katona and Heidi Range (who is now in the Sugababes), but Range decided to quit due to artistic differences and was replaced by Natasha Hamilton. Jenny Frost joined the group in January 2001 to replace Kerry Katona who quit when she became pregnant.
To date the group have had three UK number one singles; "Whole Again", the fourth best-selling single by a girl group of all time, "Eternal Flame", a song originally recorded by The Bangles, and "The Tide Is High (Get the Feeling)", a song originally recorded by The Paragons and later by Blondie. They have also had two double-platinum number-one albums in the UK, their debut Right Now and its follow-up Feels So Good. They released their final studio album Ladies Night on 10 November 2003.
The group confirmed they where splitting in April 2004 following the departure of Hamilton although they returned briefly a year later to release a new version of their single "Cradle". They also made one-off appearances to release charity singles in 2006 ("All Together Now") and 2008 ("Anyone Who Had a Heart"). On 4 March 2012, Hamilton confirmed that the group would be reforming during the year although this was later denied by all members. However, on 18 October 2012, it was announced that the original members of Atomic Kitten, including Katona but without Frost, would reunite for an ITV2 series along with other pop groups of their time, including B*Witched, Five, Liberty X, Honeyz and 911. Hamilton confirmed to a fan via Twitter that Frost was not taking part due to her pregnancy with twins, but would be welcome if she wanted to rejoin the group in the future. On 21 November 2012, it was officially confirmed that Katona would rejoin and replace Frost. The group now consists of three members: Kerry Katona, Liz McClarnon and Natasha Hamilton.
The group's debut single, "Right Now", was released in late November 1999 and reached #10 on the UK Singles Chart. Their second single, "See Ya" which of versions sang by Atomic Kitten, Robbie Williams, Bananarama, Wham, Frankie Goes To Hollywood, Duran Duran and Glee Cast, followed in March 2000 and was an even bigger success, reaching #6. Following this initial success, Atomic Kitten performed an Asian tour and scored their first number one hit there with "Cradle". The album, also titled Right Now, was first released in Japan on 16 March 2000, and subsequently released in the United Kingdom on 23 October 2000 following the release of two further singles, "I Want Your Love]]" and "[[Follow Me", with a slightly modified track list. In 2000, the group also recorded a cover version of "The Locomotion" for the movie Thomas and the Magic Railroad. Released tracks from the studio album were "Right Now", "See Ya", "Cradle", "I Want Your Love", "Follow Me", "Whole Again", "Eternal Flame" and "You Are" (videos for these taken from the DVD "So Far So Good").
Right Now was unsuccessful upon its first release, peaking only at #39 in the UK album chart. Initially, there were no plans to focus on the global market and Atomic Kitten's record label, Innocent Records, was even considering dropping them because of their limited success. However, the record company were persuaded to allow the group to release one more single from the album. That single, "Whole Again", became their first number-one hit in the United Kingdom, and stayed at the top for four consecutive weeks. Due to this success, "Whole Again" was released globally, and reached number one in eighteen other countries, including six weeks in Germany and New Zealand. The song and video for "Whole Again" originally featured Kerry Katona; however, she left the group several days prior to the single's release due to of her pregnancy. Former Precious singer, Jenny Frost replaced Katona in the line-up and the single was re-recorded. This led to the decision to partially re-record and re-release the Right Now album, the smash debut multi-platinum single "See Ya" other versions of song sang by Robbie Williams, Bobby Brown and Frankie Goes To Hollywood. Bananarama, Wham, Duran Duran and Atomic Kitten. which then went to number-one in the UK in August 2001, and was certified double Platinum. The album also reached the top ten in several European countries, including Germany and Denmark.
Their next single, "Eternal Flame", a cover version of the 1989 hit by The Bangles, became their second number-one single in the UK and New Zealand. It became their biggest single in France peaking at number two and eventually went Gold. In late 2001 the band announced they would be releasing a final single from the repackaged album, entitled "You Are". A video was recorded and promo singles were sent out to radio, but the single was ultimately shelved, never getting a full commercial release.
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