Sabrina Washington

Sabrina Washington
Background information
Birth name	Sabrina Fredrica Washington
Born	(1978-10-27) 27 October 1978
Origin	Harlesden, London, England
Genres	R&B hip hop UK garage UK funky British soul
Occupations	Singer songwriter dancer
Instrument	Vocals
Years active	1999–present
Labels	Telstar, Reprise, Boomtunes, Swash

Sabrina Fredrica Washington (born 27 October 1978) is an English R&B recording artist, songwriter and dancer who rose to fame as the lead singer of the UK girl band Mis-Teeq. With the group Washington achieved a number of Top 10 hits in the UK and across Europe, and also had a Top 40 single in the USA with "Scandalous".

Washington released her debut single "OMG (Oh My Gosh)" on 5 April 2010, and appeared as a contestant on I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in 2009 and became the winner of Celebrity Scissorhands in 2008. In 2012 she launched her own record label entitled Swash Music.

Biography

Washington was born in Harlesden, north London on 27 October 1978 and always had a big passion for music and would listen regularly to her parents' music collection as a child; this is where she believes her ability to sing and rap came from. Washington's career began in 1999, when she met Alesha Dixon and they joined Dance Attic (a popular dance class school in Fulham, west London), soon becoming a duo. In 2000, when both Alesha and Sabrina were auditioning, they met with Su-Elise Nash and formed a trio. They were signed to Inferno Records with the addition of a new member, Zena McNally, and became the popular UK Garage/R&B girl band, Mis-Teeq. However, after the release of their debut single "Why?", Zena McNally left the band to pursue her own solo career, and Mis-Teeq were signed to another record deal with Telstar Records.

Sabrina, Alesha, and Su-Elise released their debut album, Lickin' on Both Sides, in 2001. It featured the hits "All I Want", "One Night Stand", "B With Me" and "Roll On / This Is How We Do It". In 2003, they released their second album, Eye Candy featuring hits such as "Scandalous", "Can't Get it Back" and "Style". Following the two albums, they toured the United States in 2004 and released their American self-titled debut album Mis-Teeq, a compilation of the two albums Lickin' on Both Sides and Eye Candy.

In 2005, they released a greatest hits compilation that contained all of the hits they released on both audio and video from Lickin' On Both Sides and Eye Candy. The last song they recorded together was "Shoo Shoo Baby", a song that was released for the Disney animated film Valiant.

In October 2008 Sabrina joined other celebrities on Celebrity Scissorhands. She got through to the finals and on 13 November, was crowned the winner. Washington took part in ITV's I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!. 2009, but was voted out of the jungle on 1 December 2009 leaving the remaining five camp mates.

Career

2000–02: Mis-Teeq and Lickin On Both Sides

Main article: Mis-Teeq

Alesha Dixon and Sabrina Washington soon met Su-Elise Nash, and together they formed a trio. They were then signed to Sub Pop by Pat Travers, who went on to sign them to Telstar Records with the addition of a new member, Zena McNally, and became Mis-Teeq.

After months of recording – including sessions with producers Norwegian duo Stargate, Ed Case, Blacksmith, Rishi Rich, and Ceri Evans – Mis-Teeq finally released their debut single "Why?". Co-written and produced by David Brant, a remix version by Matt "Jam" Lamont soon became a success in the underground UK garage scene, and as a result a second music video for the song was filmed and released. While "Why" became a hit on the UK Singles Chart, with a peak position of No. 8, McNally decided to leave the line-up in spring 2001.

The three remaining women went on to release their second single "All I Want" in June 2001 Co-written and originally produced by David Brant and produced and remixed by Ceri Evans aka Sunship. The song topped the success of the trio's debut single and became a No. 2 hit in the UK, simultaneously entering the Top 30 of the Australian singles chart. On 27 October 2001, the band finally released their debut album, Lickin' on Both Sides. The album became a platinum success and sold more than 300,000 copies domestically. Outside the UK, however, Lickin' on Both Sides failed to chart or sell noticeably.

Nevertheless, Mis-Teeq saw instant international success with their Stargate-produced third single "One Night Stand": While the song peaked at No. 5 on the UK singles chart, it also entered the top 20 in Australia, New Zealand, Norway, and Denmark. In 2002, the band's fourth single, "B with Me", continued the group's remarkable sales with another top 10 entry in the UK; once again entering at No. 5. The last release from Lickin' on Both Sides was a double A-side of "Roll on" and the Montell Jordan cover "This Is How We Do It", latter song being featured on the soundtrack for Ali G's 2002 film Ali G Indahouse. This release entered the charts at No. 7 on 29 June 2002.

The band supported Shaggy on his UK tour in 2002.

2003–05: Eye Candy and Split

Returning from a short hiatus, Mis-Teeq released their second album, Eye Candy on 29 March 2003. The album featured production by Stargate, Ed Case, Salaam Remi, singer Joe, Delroy "D-Roy" Andrews and Jermaine Dupri and debuted at its peak position of No. 6 on the UK Albums Chart, eventually receiving a gold certification. While Eye Candy's sales failed to link on the sudden success of Lickin' on Both Sides, pre-released lead single "Scandalous" became the group's most successful single by then: It reached No. 2 in the UK and top 10 in Ireland, New Zealand, Australia, and Denmark.

In June 2003 the album's second single "Can't Get It Back" became the band's seventh and final domestic top ten single. Originally a remake of the same-titled unreleased Blaque single from 2002, Mis-Teeq and Telstar agreed not to use album version, instead releasing the alternate "Ignorants Radio Edit" as an official single version which entered the UK charts at No. 8 on 12 July 2003. The song also was included on a Special Edition of Eye Candy which was released in December of the same year and spawned a third single with "Style". However the song failed to reach the UK top 10 and eventually peaked at No. 13.

"Scandalous" was released in the United States in May 2004 (under another label, Reprise Records) and reached No. 35 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in June, making it their only US hit. The song was featured as the theme of the film Catwoman, starring Halle Berry, in 2004.

After the announcement of their split in 2005 they released a compilation album, Greatest Hits, containing a new track, a cover of The Andrews Sisters 1940s song "Shoo Shoo Baby", and they were awarded a 2005 Soul Train Lady of Soul Nomination for Best R&B/Soul Album – Group, Band or Duo for their album "Mis-Teeq".

2009–present: Solo career

Sabrina Washington's debut single, "OMG (Oh My Gosh)", was released on 5 April, the song failed to chart noticeably in the UK, however it did very well across Europe. A second song called "Lock Down", was leaked on the internet on 30 November 2010. The official video for Washington's new single Hit It Hard co starring the fiancee to legendary US boxer Floyd Mayweather was uploaded onto Sabrina's official YouTube channel on 7 September 2012 and she has now successfully launched her very own record label, Swash Music. Washington uploaded new song 'Gone' on her YouTube account on 4 February 2013. On 23 April, Sabrina signed with Shakir Entertainment Management.

Discography

See also: Mis-Teeq discography

External links

• Sabrina Washington on Myspace