Keisha Buchanan

Keisha Buchanan
Background information
Birth name	Keisha Kerreece Fayeanne Buchanan
Born	(1984-09-30) 30 September 1984
Origin	London, England
Genres	Pop, R&B
Occupation	Singer-songwriter
Years active	1998–present
Labels	London, Island

Keisha Kerreece Fayeanne Buchanan (born 30 September 1984) is an English singer-songwriter and was a founding member of the BRIT Award-winning girl group the Sugababes. With the Sugababes, Buchanan had six number one singles and two number one studio albums, making the Sugababes one of the most successful British pop acts of the 21st century. Buchanan was asked to leave the band in September 2009 and was replaced by Jade Ewen.

On 26 January 2012 it was confirmed that Buchanan would reform the original line-up of Sugababes alongside Mutya Buena and Siobhan Donaghy but will be releasing under a new name due to the "Sugababes" name still in use by the current members of the group."

History

1998–2009: Early life and Sugababes

Buchanan met Mutya Buena while at primary school in Kingsbury. At the age of thirteen the pair met Siobhán Donaghy at a music studio. The three formed a girl group called the Sugababies but then changed to the Sugababes. In 1998, the Sugababes were offered their first record deal with London Records and had their first break-through hit in 2000 with "Overload" from their debut album One Touch. After Donaghy left the group in August 2001 to be replaced by Heidi Range the group were dropped from London but were signed up by Island Records. Buena departed in December 2005, replaced by Amelle Berrabah, leaving Buchanan as the only founding member still in the Sugababes between 2005 to 2009. The Sugababes had six number-one singles, "Freak Like Me", "Round Round", "Hole in the Head", "Push the Button", "Walk This Way" and "About You Now". They have also had several top-three hits including "Ugly", "Girls" and Buchanan's final release with the group, "Get Sexy". The group has also had six top-ten albums, two of which, Taller in More Ways and Change, went to number one in the UK and were certified triple platinum. In terms of record sales, the Sugababes are the most successful female act of the century, and have had #1 singles in fifteen other countries in Europe and Asia — "Hole in the Head" also went to #1 on the U.S. Billboard dance chart.

On 21 September 2009, it was officially announced that Buchanan had exited the group, resulting in Sugababes retaining none of its original members. Buchanan, who will pursue a solo career with Island Records, was replaced by former-Eurovision entrant Jade Ewen. Buchanan revealed on Twitter that it was not her decision to leave, resulting in some journalists describing her as having been "sacked".

I'm sad to say that I am no longer a part of the Sugababes ... Although it was not my choice to leave, it's time to enter a new chapter in my life ... I would like to state that there were no arguments, bullying or anything of the sort that lead to this. Sometimes a breakdown in communication and lack of trust can result in many different things.

— Keisha Buchanan, September 2009

Critics and fans reacted very negatively to the news, and British broadsheet The Guardian ran an article named "Why the Sugababes' show can't go on without Keisha". Digital Spy ran an article called "Keisha Buchanan, We Salute You" in which they thanked her for her contribution to "incredible pop songs". However, it has been claimed by Berrabah and Range that they played no role in the ousting of Buchanan. Both women have claimed to quit the Sugababes themselves only to find that their group's management decided that they would follow them, rather than find two new members for Buchanan.

2010–present: Solo career

She features on the song "Far Away" from Jay Sean's UK edition of All or Nothing. Buchanan is currently recording her debut solo album. According to Buchanan, the album will mostly be produced by Future Cut and will feature production by Dallas Austin. Buchanan is currently in Los Angeles, California recording music for her solo debut.

"Sugababes" Reunion

Rumors of the original line-up of Sugababes reforming started circulating online after a tweet from Buchanan on January 5 stating "Hanging out in the studio with Professor Green and two lovely ladies with bags of talent", former bandmate, Mutya Buena followed with "At studio with Professor Green in the building and two beautiful ladies", thus rumors leading to the 'Babes recording new music. However Professor Green later denied rumors of working with the ladies stating "Oh, no, no, no. People got the wrong end of the stick. I was in the same studio then that I’m in now." Buena later confirmed that a "Sugababes Reunion" is only a rumor and tweeted "No track with keisha or professor G he was around tha studio. im jus workin on my stuff @ tha moment.". It was later confirmed that the Buchanan and Buena were coincidentally in the same studio recording solo material at the same time and hanging out with each other on a break. The third woman Buchanan and Buena tweeted about was unidentified, however fans were lead to believe that it was former member Siobhán Donaghy, however this was never confirmed. Fans now believe that the third woman was singer and songwriter Emile Sande. Sande made the statement to MTV UK on 26 January 2012, "Yes, that is true. I'm writing for the original line-up of the Sugababes, which I'm very happy about because I just loved them when they first came out. I loved their sound, it was so cool. It was very different, so I'm happy to kind of be involved in what started the whole Sugababes journey. It sounds amazing." It is now assumed that Sande is only writing music to be submitted to the women if they choose to reform.

Artistry

Buchanan possesses the vocal range of a soprano.

External links

• Keisha Buchanan on Twitter
• Keisha Buchanan at IMDb