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Bars and Melody

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Bars & Melody
Also known asB.A.M
OriginLondon, UK
GenresHip hop, R&B
Years active2013–present
MembersLeondre Devries
Charlie Lenehan

Bars and Melody (B.A.M) are a British singing/rapping duo consisting of rapper Leondre Devries ("Bars") and singer Charlie Lenehan ("Melody"). They took part in the eighth series of Britain's Got Talent in 2014. During their audition, they had automatically been entered into the semi-finals of Britain's Got Talent after head judge Simon Cowell pressed the "golden buzzer", a new feature introduced in the eighth series, and finished in third place.

After the show, Bars and Melody signed a record deal with Syco Music. Their debut single "Hopeful" was released on 27 July 2014.

Background

Leondre ("Bars") Antonio Devries, (born 6 October 2000) is a rapper from Port Talbot, Wales and Charlie-Joe ("Melody") Lenehan-Green (born 27 October 1998) is a singer from Bristol, England. They met in September 2013 via Facebook, after Lenehan had seen many of Devries' covers as a solo rapper. Lenehan said to Devries, "Do you want to meet up?" in January 2014, so, accompanied by their parents, they met in late January and decided to form a music duo, naming themselves Bars and Melody (or B.A.M, as stated in their first appearance).[1]

Career

2014: Britain's Got Talent

Main article: Britain's Got Talent (series 8)

On 8 February 2014, Bars and Melody auditioned in Manchester for the eighth series of Britain's Got Talent. They performed a song based on Twista and Faith Evans' "Hope", with Devries replacing the original verses with ones protesting against bullying. After the audition, the audience began chanting "Push the gold!". Bars & Melody received the golden buzzer from Simon Cowell and went straight through to the live semi-finals.[2] Their audition has been viewed on YouTube more than 45 million times.[3]

Before the semi-finals, they were interviewed on The Ellen DeGeneres Show in the United States, and numerous adverts were posted on Facebook. They advertised Britain's Got Talent and themselves, as well as performing their audition piece.[4] In the semi-final on 29 May, they performed Puff Daddy and Faith Evans' "I'll Be Missing You", coupled with new verses about someone who had recently lost a friend; audience members having been given candles to wave during their performance. They won their semi-final and progressed through to the final.[5]

In the final, they performed the song they sang in their first audition. They came in third place behind Lucy Kay and Collabro after receiving 14.3% of the final vote.[6]

2014–present: Debut single

Despite not winning, it was reported that Bars and Melody were set to sign a £500,000 record deal.[7] On 15 June 2014, it was announced that Bars and Melody have signed an initial one-single deal with Simon Cowell's record label, Syco.[8] The music video of their song "Hopeful" was released on YouTube on 7 July 2014.[9][10] Their debut single was released on 27 July and went straight to number five on the UK Singles Chart.

Members

Charlie Lenehan

Charlie-Joe Lenehan-Green (born 27 October 1998), aged 15, is from Frampton Cotterell, Bristol, England. He attends the Winterbourne International Academy. He lives with his mother Karen, who is a dinner lady at Gillingstool School, and his eight-year-old sister, Brooke. He returned to school the first Monday after the BGT final. Lenehan says that on his first day back, all the Year 7's & 8's, were banging on the window, when they saw him.[11][12] He had only taken up singing aged 11 where he had formed a band with his schoolmates and was chosen as the singer.[11]

Leondre Devries

Leondre Antonio Devries (born 6 October 2000), aged 13, is from Port Talbot, Wales. He attends the Glan Afan Comprehensive School.[13] He lives with his dad Antonio and mum Victoria. He has spoken openly about his experiences of bullying at a young age. He has one younger sister, Matilda, and three older brothers, Ben, Joseph and Jacob. Before Bars and Melody were formed, he was rapping solo under the stage name 'Little Dre'.[14][15]

Discography

Singles

Year Title Peak chart positions Album
UK IRE
[16]
2014 "Hopeful" 5 56 —

References

  1. ^ Thompson, Melissa (29 May 2014). "Britain's Got Talent: Bars and Melody become global sensations with their anti-bullying message". Daily Mirror. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  2. ^ Darvill, Josh (10 May 2014). "Britain's Got Talent 2014: Bars and Melody get Simon Cowell's golden buzzer". TellyMix. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  3. ^ "Bars & Melody - Simon Cowell's Golden Buzzer act". YouTube. 10 May 2014. Retrieved 9 June 2014.
  4. ^ Heath, Olivia (23 May 2014). "BGT's Bars and Melody are Stateside hit after talk with Ellen DeGeneres". Reveal. (Nat Mags). Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  5. ^ Dassanayake, Dion (29 May 2014). "Britain's Got Talent: Bars & Melody and Lettice Rowbotham book final spots". Daily Express. Northern & Shell. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  6. ^ Percival, Ash (7 June 2014). "Collabro win Britain's Got Talent 2014: 'We thank all of our fans'". Digital Spy. Hearst Magazines UK. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  7. ^ Pryer, Emma (8 June 2014). "Britain's Got Talent's Bars and Melody to sign £500,000 US tour deal despite final defeat". Daily Mirror. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 8 June 2014.
  8. ^ Pryer, Emma (15 June 2014). "Britain's Got Talent rappers Bars & Melody to release single on Simon Cowell's label". Daily Mirror. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  9. ^ "Bars and Melody - Hopeful". YouTube. 7 July 2014. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
  10. ^ Heath, Olivia (8 July 2014). "Britain's Got Talent stars Bars and Melody unveil 'Hopeful' music video". Reveal. Nat Mags. Retrieved 13 July 2014.
  11. ^ a b Daily, Western (2014-06-07). "Bristol teenager Charlie Lenehan prepares for Britain's Got Talent final in Bars and Melody act". Western Daily Press. Retrieved 2014-06-15.
  12. ^ "Bars and Melody singer Charlie Lenehan welcomed back after Britain's Got Talent final (From Stroud News and Journal)". Stroud News and Journal. Retrieved 2014-06-15.
  13. ^ By SWEPGRoberts (2014-06-07). "Britain's Got Talent 2014: Leondre Devries from Bars and Melody tells all". South Wales Evening Post. Retrieved 2014-06-15.
  14. ^ May 29, 2014 06:00 (2014-05-29). "Britain's Got Talent 2014: Bars and Melody open up on their meteoric rise to fame". Wales Online. Retrieved 2014-06-15.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  15. ^ McGeorge, Alistair (2014-05-14). "Britain's Got Talent: Leondre Devries doesn't hate schoolyard bullies". Mirror.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-06-15.
  16. ^ Peak positions in Ireland:

Official pages: Facebook / Twitter / Instagram / YouTube

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