Though they were barely out of their teens when they first formed, Sugababes have left an indelible fingerprint on the last two decades of British pop.
Keisha Buchanan and Mutya Buena had been friends since primary school before meeting Siobhan Donaghy and forming the group in 1998. A deal with London Records followed and after a slight name change – from Sugababies to Sugababes – their first single, the magnetic Overload, was released in 2000. Their debut album, One Touch, followed later that year. A slinky hybrid of cutting-edge R&B, UK pop and vintage hip hop that was given an additional touch of class by the trio’s cool aloofness.
A squelching blend of new wave pop and electro, Freak Like Me topped the UK charts in 2002 and unveiled both a new lineup – with the departed Donaghy replaced by former Atomic Kitten member Heidi Range – and a reinvention of Sugababes’ sound. A second number one single, Round Round, followed and the group’s sophomore album, Angels With Dirty Faces, went to number two, going on to achieve triple platinum status.
A string of top ten singles and albums followed including Hole In The Head, Push The Button and Too Lost In You, which featured in Richard Curtis’ Love Actually. Buena departed ways with the band soon after the release of fourth album Taller In More Ways to be replaced by Amelle Berrabah. Buchanan would later leave the group in 2009, with her place in the trio taken by Jade Ewen.
In 2012 the original Sugababes lineup reunited under the name Mutya Keisha Siobhan, releasing the single Flatline in 2013. In 2019, they won back the rights to their original name. A surprise eighth studio album, The Lost Tapes, was released in 2022.
The 20th Anniversary Edition of One Touch was released in 2021 and included remixes and alternative versions featuring artists including Dev Hynes, Metronomy and MNEK, showing the enduring legacy of Sugababes’ innovative and subversive approach to making pop music.
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