Frontman Andy McCluskey of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark formed Atomic Kitten in 1998 with a line-up consisting of Liz McClarnon, Kerry Katona, and Heidi Range. Atomic Kitten’s earliest songs were principally written my McCluskey including the No. 10 UK single “Right Now” released in November 1999. Prior to the release, Heidi Range left the group citing artistic differences and moved to the fellow pop charting group the Sugababes, replaced by Natasha Hamilton.
The group’s subsequent single “See Ya” proved an even greater success reaching No. 6 in the UK single chart, followed by their first No. 1 hit in Japan “Cradle”, which led to a tour of the UK and parts of Asia. Atomic Kitten’s debut album “Right Now” arrived in October 2000, spawning the two further singles “I Want Your Love” and “Follow Me”. The single “Whole Again” became the group’s first No. 1 single in the UK, along with 18 other countries, including a 27 week stint at the top of the charts in the Republic of Moldova.
Due to pregnancy Kerry Katona left the group following the release and was replaced by former Precious singer Jenny Frost. With the swap, the album “Right Now” was re-packaged, re-recorded and re-released including the songs “Eternal Flame” another No. 1 hit, “You Are” and “Tomorrow & Tonight”, and was later certified as double platinum.
With the success of “Right Now” Atomic Kitten recorded and released "Feels So Good" in 2002, half way through of which Andy McCluskey departed due to an increase in tension between him and the band. The album spawned the singles “It’s Okay”, “The Tide Is High (Get The Feeling)”, “The Last Goodbye” and “Love Doesn’t Have To Hurt”. By this time the group were attracting a buzz in the U.S., often drawing comparisons with The Supremes and the Spice Girls for having over a dozen singles hit the No. 1 spot in the charts.
The group made their U.S. debut with a self-titled album released in April 2003, which turned out to be unsuccessful and led the group to focus on European, South African and Asian markets. Atomic Kitten’s subsequent album “Ladies Night” was released in November 2003 featuring the single of the same name; a collaborative duet with the band Kool & the Gang. The album peaked at No. 5 in the UK album chart and was later certified platinum, spawning the singles “Be With You” and “If You Come To Me”.
After the subsequent tour and the release of their “Greatest Hits” album, Hamilton left the group to focus on her family. In 2012, however, the group, including Hamilton and Katona, reunited for a summer tour. The band later announced they were returning to the studio to record new material, and toured alongside East 17 and All Saints in 2014.
Liz, Natasha and Kerry: the holy trinity of early noughties girlpop. Boasting a repertoire of hits glossier than a service station magazine stand, a night in the company of Atomic Kitten is a night in the company of greatness. With the original ‘98 lineup back together, after more than a decade apart, it’s nothing short of a privilege to hear ‘Whole Again’, ‘Eternal Flame’ and Blondie redux ‘The Tide Is High’ performed as the artists originally intended.
Indeed, after a dark narrative of fractious arguments and member replacements, the stars aligned in 2012 to reunite Atomic Kitten, along with fellow pop pioneers B*Witched, Honeyz, Five, and 911 for the ITV2 show ‘The Big Reunion’. A huge UK tour ensued culminating with a grandstand finale at London’s O2 Arena, cementing Atomic Kitten’s rightful place at the pinnacle of the noughties cheesepop hierarchy.
How gratifying it has been to see Kerry Katona back on stage, and away from frozen food commercials. Indeed, the journey travelled - emotionally, mentally and physically - by these fine young women, translates directly into the raw power of their live performance; the tinny beats of antiquated backing tracks transcended by true, unadulterated talent.Atoms can be split, and kittens can run away. How lucky we are that Atomic Kitten have been made... whole again.
Fantastic evening with these two characters, definitely tears & laughter. Brilliant once we were in there. Would love a CD track of all them songs sang by them last night.
Good luck with the rest of the tour guys xxxxxx
Bought the tickets a couple of hours before the show, was really looking forward to see them. Arrived at Los Globos just to find out nobody knew anything about Eternal playing. We asked everyone no one had a clue since eternal wasn't at all playing. How can you sell tickets to a concert that never was about to happen?! I'm so disappointed I can't even describe it! Can I ever use songkick again? Can I ever use ticketweb again?
It’s always interesting to look a little more closely at one-hit wonders, and look at what led up to that fleeting success in the first place and see just how they’ve fared since; OK, so DJ Sammy, or Samuel Bouriah as he was born, isn’t quite a one-hit wonder - his biggest success on the charts, 2001’s British number one smash ‘Heaven’, was followed up a year later by further top ten tracks in the UK that included a cover of Don Henley’s ‘The Boys of Summer’, but his moment to shine was over quickly enough that I feel you can include him amongst the number of those that were here one moment and gone the next. It was a real slow burn to success for DJ Sammy, too, with his career kicking off in his native Mallorca in Spain, where he began spinning tunes in local clubs; he knows, then, how to handle relative obscurity, and whilst he remains popular on the live circuit in his home country, that’s largely what he’s been faced with since 2002. His recent live sets have mixed up Eurodance with house and techno in a way that appeals to both the mainstream and the purists, and he remains a popular fixture at clubs across Europe.