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In August 2000,
Antony Costa and Duncan James recognised each other from the audition circuit and started chatting over the pool table. They
discovered that they had loads in common and decided to form a group, as they were both in bands that were not going anywhere.
The first choice for another band member was Lee Ryan, who Duncan had seen at Auditions (and considered him the best singer
around.) So, Lee joined, bringing his equally talented flatmate Simon Webbe, and Blue was born.
Blue released their
debut single in May 2001, and are now officially one of the biggest pop acts in the world.
They have two No.1
albums, two BRIT awards, and have sold 5 million albums and 2.9 million singles.
Blue released their
first single "All Rise" in May 2001, which entered the UK chart at No. 4 and stayed in the top ten for 5 weeks, "Too Close"
and "If you come back" followed, being even more successful, selling over 200,000 copies each and topping the charts at No.1.
Their debut album
"All Rise" was then released, reached No.1 and has now sold more than 1.5 million copies in the UK alone.
They received the
"Best Newcomer" award at the BRIT awards 2002, Smash Hits Awards and Capital FM Awards, and also "Best Single" and "Best Pop
Act" at the Capital FM Awards.
Blue hit the Top
10 with "Fly By II" in March 2002 and it reached No.1 in the official airplay chart.
They went touring
the world in the summer.
Dunk - "This has
been a crazy and exciting year for Blue and we are totally blown away by the success we have had so far. We have worked really
hard to produce an album that we are all proud of. All we want to do is perform decent songs with tough grooves and soulful
vocals."
The album "One Love",
featuring some of the best songwriters and producers around, was released in November 2002 and entered the charts at No.1,
and has now sold more than 2.7 million copies worldwide, half of these being in the UK.
"One Love" the single was the No.1 airplay hit and got into the UK Top 3.
"Sorry Seems To
Be The Hardest Word", the duet with Elton John, who originally released the song in 1976, topped the charts for Blue's 3rd
time in December 2002.
The boys
went on their first ever tour after the "One Love" album release around UK and Ireland, performing in Sheffield, Cardiff,
Birmingham, Newcastle, Glasgow, Manchester and Londons Wembley Arena.
They were awarded
"Best Pop Act" at the TOTP Awards 2002, and "Best UK Band" and "Best Live Act" at the Smash Hits Awards 2002. They were named
"Best Band" in Heat Magazine, Hot Stars Magazine, and the Daily Star. They won "Best Pop Act" in the 2003 BRIT Awards.
"U Make Me Wanna" was then released and it made it into the UK Top 5.
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They spent the Summer
recording and touring Europe and the Far East, and returned in October 2003 with a brand new single "Guilty", written by Duncan.
Then they released their third album, "Guilty".
"Signed, Sealed,
Delivered" came out just in time for Christmas and was fighting for the number one spot.
Simon
on the track - " "Signed, Sealed Delivered" with Miss Angie Stone and the legend Stevie Wonder. Its like, man, you can't explain
- it's unexplainable. It's one of those experiences that we've experienced which we'll never forget, and we've got videos
as well as the memories as well. I was just over the moon and for him to say that we've got longevity and he likes the way
we sing was too much.
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