Abs Breen

Abs Breen
Background information
Birth name	Richard Abidin Breen
Also known as	Abs Breen
Born	29 June 1979 (1979-06-29) Enfield, London, England
Genres	Pop, pop rock, dance, disco, funk
Occupations	singer, DJ
Years active	1997–present
Labels	Cut Kidz
Associated acts	Five

Breen in 2010.

Richard Abidin "Abs" Breen (born 29 June 1979 in Enfield, London, England) is a British singer, rapper, dancer, and DJ. He was formerly a member of London-based boyband Five. In 2003, he released his first solo album called "Abstract Theory".

Early life

Breen was born in Enfield, London to a Turkish father (Turan) and an Irish mother (Kay) who are both also musicians. Brother of (Jamie) He attended the Italia Conti Stage School where his teacher suggested he audition for a boyband that was being put together by Simon Cowell. He was chosen along with four other boys to be part of internationally successful boyband Five.

Five

During his Five days, Abz rapped in the middle of their songs, his technique similar to Eminem and Busta Rhymes. Examples are in "Slam Dunk (Da Funk)", "Everybody Get Up", "If Ya Gettin' Down", "We Will Rock You" and "When the Lights Go Out" on the U.S. version of 5ive and in its music video.

Five enjoyed worldwide success, particularly in the UK, many other parts of Europe and most of Asia, as well as Russia, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand and the USA. They disbanded on 27 September 2001, after selling almost 20 million records, and having 11 top ten singles and 4 top ten albums in the UK. After Five split up, Love became the only band member to release a solo album, Abstract Theory, and had three Top 10 hits in the UK singles chart.

After being in the spotlight since the age of 16, Love decided to take this time to travel and enjoy himself and in August 2006 he was a surprise guest on the ITV reality television show, Love Island, for five days. He was criticised by TV presenter Patrick Kielty for speaking with a Jamaican accent.

Five reformation

On 27 September 2006, it was announced that just four of the five members of the band would be reforming. Abz was reuniting with J, Ritchie and Scott, but Sean was pursuing a solo career. Despite being only a band of four, they kept the name Five. The boys also announced that they would be releasing a new album and were planning a tour, but having recorded only half the album, Five disbanded again on 19 May 2007, because they had not gained enough record label interest.

Name change

He changed his name to Abz Love in June 2008. He was also invited onto BBC Three show Celebrity Scissorhands to receive a manicure from former bandmate Scott Robinson. Abz has now started his Loveupgang project and is currently creating a EP called "Loved Up" which will be released late 2011.^{[citation needed]} He is currently finalising a range of environmentally-friendly toilet products, called Abz-a-Lootly, which will be available in ASDA stores nationwide from March 2012 - sadly the launch went 'down the pan' - Abz is now focusing all of his attention on relaunching his career designing duchess satin occasionwear for the higher end High Street branches.

Discography

Albums

Year	Title	Chart positions
		UK
2003	Abstract Theory	28
2011	Loved Up EP

Solo singles

Year	Single	Peak positions				Album
		UK	AUS	ITA	IRE
2002	"What You Got"	4	33	37	9	Abstract Theory
	"Shame"	—	64	—	—
2003	"Stop Sign"	10	56	—	21
	"Miss Perfect" (featuring Nodesha)	5	—	—	13
	"7 Ways" (featuring Eve Bicker)	—	—	—	—
"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that country.

External links

• Abs Breen at the Internet Movie Database