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From Honeyhead

Atomic Kitten began as a project under the eye of Andy McCluskey, one of the members of a highly popular group called Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark (OMD).  From as far back as 1998, McCluskey worked to establish a new all-female music group.  The first name for the group was 'Honeyhead'.  This soon changed to 'Automatic Kittens' taken from the name of the designer label owned by the group's clothing designer, Mary Lamb.  Automatic Kittens started off with Liz McClarnon and Kerry Katona.  Heidi Range was another early member in pre-Atomic Kitten days.  Liz McClarnon and Kerry Katona had themselves formed a partnership in Liverpool, England back in 1998.  Liz or 'Lil' had initial plans to become a lawyer but on taking up singing at age 16 her plans took on a new road.  She met Kerry and together they became best friends.  It wasn't too long before the name 'Automatic Kittens' was changed to the simpler 'Atomic Kitten' in March 1999.  Heidi Range departed the group well before they had taken on the charts and was replaced by Natasha Hamilton or 'Tash' in mid-1999.

The name 'Atomic Kitten' was a creative variation of Kerry's over the name of their once clothing designer's own label name.  Mary Lamb, that clothing designer used the name 'Automatic Kitten' to describe her range of clothes and although taken up by the Kittens as their original stage name it was felt that the shorter 'Atomic Kitten' was easier to say and remember!

Signing up...
In 1999 Atomic Kitten were signed to the label, Innocent, under the eye of Hugh Goldsmith whose label also included big names such as Martine McCutcheon and Billie Piper.  December of that year saw the release of their first single, 'Right Now'.  This became an immediate success scoring a number 10 position in the UK singles charts.  They were well promoted through their role as a supporting act for the group, 911 in their tour.

Appearances upon appearances were in line for the Kittens.  They made their presence felt at the Smash Hits Tour and the track 'Something Spooky' by the Kittens was picked as the theme for BBC television's 'Belfry Witches' which screened on television in September 1999.  Throughout 1999 they established themselves as an up and coming successful pop group playing gigs and appearing on television.

Into 2000 and Atomic Kitten were onto their debut album.  They had their first release of the album called 'Right Now' in Japan early on in the year.  They went across the globe to play a part in a Japanese chocolate advertisement campaign and played live to audiences in Asia.  By the end of 2000 they were well-established in the Far East.  They also had the opportunity to be the supporting act on the UK tour of group, Steps.  For BBC television they played in the quiz game, 'Blankety Blank'.

Charting it big time...
Atomic Kitten proved their immense popularity with top-selling releases throughout 2000.  'See Ya' reached a respectable number 6 position in the UK singles chart while 'I Want Your Love' debuted at number 10 and 'Follow Me' at number 20.  In October 2000, the band's first album, 'Right Now' was released in the UK and this received highly rated attention doing well with fans and reviewers alike.

By the end of 2000 fears loomed over the possible sudden demise of Atomic Kitten when it was announced that Kerry was pregnant.  The start of 2001 saw a reformation with former Precious member, Jenny Frost taking up Kerry's place.  February 2001 was a big month for the Kittens as it marked their first number 1 single, 'Whole Again' which maintained its top spot for a total of 4 weeks.  But months after that 'Whole Again' held it clear within the top 20 revealing the music mastery of the Kittens.

The original music video of 'Whole Again' and the original album cover of 'Right Now' marked the final presence of Kerry in the band.  In March, the 'Whole Again' video was cleverly re-made to feature Jenny in place of Kerry.

'Eternal Flame' was the next hugely successful single.  This went straight in at No.1 in the UK singles chart when it was released in July 2001.  Staying on top for two weeks, the Kittens claimed the most number of weeks at No.1 in the UK singles chart since the double A-side offering from Westlife, 'Seasons In The Sun/I Have A Dream' back in 1999.  'Right Now' was re-released to feature Jenny in August 2001 and this too won huge acclaim debuting at the UK No.1 album position.

Kerry and boyfriend, Bryan McFadden from Westlife celebrated the birth of their first child, a girl called Molly, in September 2001.

Atomic Kitten played live gigs throughout the summer of 2001.  Events included the massive 'Party In The Park 2001' playing in Hyde Park, London, UK in July 2001 and V2001 in August 2001.  They already made an appearance at the South Africa Freedom Day concert held in Trafalgar Square in April 2001 alongside other big acts such as The Corrs.

The later part of 2001 saw Atomic Kitten making an inital attempt to win over the music audience in the United States.  They released 'Whole Again' in the US.  Towards the end of 2001 they Kittens were in line for a number of massive awards that included the Smash Hits Poll Winners Party Award and the Disney Channel Kids Award.  Their massive single, 'Whole Again' was also nominated for Record Of The Year 2001.

Around November time in 2001 and the Kittens were expected to release another single off the album, 'Right Now' - the brilliant 'You Are', but this was not released onto the charts and came out as a special set of CD releases.

Happy times
And so another year commenced, 2002, and by now Atomic Kitten were mainstream music artists, a household name in the world of pop.  They were now onto another major milestone in their hugely successful music career - a big concert tour.  This extended from late February 2002 until early April and saw Atomic Kitten play live at venues across the UK and Ireland.  It was a sell-out tour that received huge applause from Kitten fans and the Kittens proved they were powerful on stage with their massive performances and their beautiful singing.

In the background, a number of happy events were taking place for the Kittens.  In January 2002, Kerry married her fiancé of 2 years, Bryan McFadden from Westlife in Ireland with their baby daughter, Molly attending the beautiful occasion.  Tash acted as one of Kerry's bridesmaids while Westlife's Shane Filan was one of Bryan's groomsmen.  Also that month, Jen announced that she had become engaged to Dom T. Dom, a DJ and in March 2002, Tash announced that she had become pregnant with fiancé, Fran Cosgrove, a former security guard for Westlife.  Both Tash and Fran had their first child, a boy, in August 2002 whom they named Josh.

And onto a second...
From March 2002, details of a brand new single were emerging which signalled the beginning of brand new material from Atomic Kitten to be taken off a brand new album.  The new single called 'It's OK!' presented fans with an exciting taste of new Kitten material with its upbeat, party vibe and the single artwork had for the first time moved away from the theme followed by the 'Right Now' singles which had the Atomic Kitten logo enlarged on the front to a new image.  'It's OK!' which was released on the 20th May 2002 reached No.3 in the UK singles chart position winning off competition from tough contenders like Westlife and showing its brilliance to fans and other music listeners alike.  'It's OK!' made way for a second exciting single titled 'The Tide Is High (Get The Feeling)', a revamped cover of the UK and US hit single, 'The Tide Is High' performed by American 80's artist, Blondie.  The original version of 'The Tide Is High' was performed by another US group, The Paragons back in the 50's.  The new single is fresh and vibrant and was released on the 26th August 2002, and it proved to be a massive hit gaining the UK No.1 singles chart position and staying on top for a total of 3 weeks.  Such was the success of 'The Tide Is High (Get The Feeling)' it sold more copies on its first week of sales than 'Whole Again' and 'Eternal Flame' ever did on theirs.

The Kittens enjoyed double success when on the second week that 'The Tide Is High (Get The Feeling)' stayed top at No.1, their brand new and latest album, 'Feels So Good' made it to the UK No.1 albums position.  The brand new album released on the 9th September 2002 features a whole set of new and exciting tracks with new songwriting contributions from a multitude of writers including the Kittens themselves.  Top solo artist, Kylie Minogue contributed to the writing of the track, 'Feels So Good' which gave origin to the name of the new Atomic Kitten album.

Looking back...
Atomic Kitten proceed on to release a brand new book, 'So Good, So Far' looking back at what they have already achieved in their highly successful careers and a new DVD and VHS video, 'Right Here Right Now Live' looks back on a brilliant 'Right Now Tour 2002' which the Kittens did in early 2002 and features the live Kitten gig at The Waterfront, Belfast, N. Ireland which took place in early April 2002.

Now Atomic Kitten continue on what is an extremely successful music career.  They are undoubtedly one of the hugest and most popular bands to date and they continue to strive with massively successful chart releases and fantastic performances.

Atomic Kitten are only 3 years old and yet they have demonstrated their expertise as a potentially hot act that's hard to follow.  The success of all their singles especially 'The Tide Is High (Get The Feeling)', 'Whole Again' and 'Eternal Flame' along with their debut album, 'Right Now' and latest album, 'Feels So Good' prove that they've got what it takes to rock the pop and dance world.

Biography written by Atomic Kitten Active

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