All Saints

Female vocal group All Saints started out with a slightly different name and lineup, but after a few tweaks they found their way to superstardom in pretty short order. They first came together under the rather more unwieldy moniker All Saints 1.9.7.5.  in 1993 with Simone Rainford, Melanie Blatt, and Shaznay Lewis. Over the next couple of years they released a pair of unsuccessful singles for the ZTT Records and were subsequently abandoned by the label. But after Rainford's departure and the arrival of sisters Natalie and Nicole Appleton, the group (now working simply as All Saints) got a deal with London Records. Arriving hot on the heels of The Spice Girls' success, they were in the right place at the right time. Their self-titled 1997 debut album became phenomenally successful and featured a string of huge hit singles including "Never Ever" and cover versions of The Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Under the Bridge" and Labelle's "Lady Marmalade." All Saints' 2000 follow-up album, Saints & Sinners, was enormously successful in the U.K. and included the British No. 1 singles "Pure Shores" and "Black Coffee." But in 2001, internecine conflicts led to the group's breakup. Five years later, the quartet mended fences and got a new record deal with Parlophone. The resulting LP, Studio 1, only made it to No. 40 in the U.K. but did include a No. 3 British hit single, "Rock Steady." By 2008 the group had split up again, but they got back together once again in 2013. Three years later they released their fourth album, Red Flag, which went to No. 3 in the U.K. but contained no hit singles. Another album, Testament, followed in 2018 but was less successful than its predecessor.