Atomic Kitten

One of the most successful European girl groups of the noughties, selling over 10 million records, Atomic Kitten were the brainchild of Andy McCluskey and Stuart Kershaw – who formerly had hits in their own right with the techno duo Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark – and worked as songwriters for the Kittens. Formed in Liverpool in 1998, the original line-up of the band featured Liz McClarnon, Kerry Katona and Heidi Range, but Natasha Hamilton had replaced the latter by the time the Kittens released their debut single "Right Now" in 1999. It wasn't initially successful but after several more flops the girls finally made it big with "Whole Again," a UK Number 1 for four weeks, also topping the charts in 19 different countries. By then Kerry Katona had been replaced by Jenny Frost but the hits continued with their cover of the Bangles' "Eternal Flame" and "The Tide Is High" - previously a hit for The Paragons and Blondie - which also infiltrated the US charts and was featured in The Lizzy Maguire Movie. The 2003 album Ladies Night included their own self-written songs for the first time but the group took a break when Natasha Hamilton decided to concentrate on being a mother and subsequently they only appeared together sporadically. In 2006 the girls released a World Cup song "All Together Now (Strong Together)" and in 2008 made a charity record, "Anyone Who Had A Heart," but both were only minor hits. After taking some time out, the group returned in October 2012, with the 1999 line-up of Atomic Kitten (McClarnon, Katona, and Hamilton) getting back together for ITV2 series The Big Reunion, along with some of their pop peers including Liberty X. The following year 2013, Atomic Kitten were involved in a group Christmas charity single for Text Santa, a cover of Wizzard's "I Wish It Could Be Christmas Everyday." The song, which made it to Number 13 in the UK, marked their first new material in 10 years. In 2017, Kerry Katona left the group amid rumours of a feud with Natasha Hamilton and from 2018 Atomic Kitten existed as the duo of Liz McClarnon and Natasha Hamilton. On July 6 2021, Atomic Kitten – with Jenny Frost having re-joined the group – made a comeback with a remake of "Whole Again" in support of England at UEFA Euro 2020, titled "Southgate You're the One (Football's Coming Home Again)." The song peaked at Number 14 on the UK Singles Chart.