The demise of the Sugababes

Yes, pop fans, it has finally happened. The Sugababes have come to an end.

They've officially announced that Heidi, Amelle and some new girl named Jade will continue on as the Sugababes, but for all practical purposes the Sugababes franchise is done for. Keisha was the last founding member to survive all previous line-up changes, and though Heidi has been around for seven years and is still a valuable asset to the Sugababes formula, and Amelle had carved her own niche in the band, there truly is no point in carrying on without Keisha.

Let's review the Sugababes story, from the beginning, shall we?

1998 -
Teenagers Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan, and Siobhan Donaghy form the Sugababes.

2000 -
Their debut single, "Overload", reaches #6 in the UK and is nominated for Best British Single at the 2001 BRIT Awards. The brilliant track combines r&b, electro and a bit of funk and made all the more affecting by the group's girlish vocals.

2001 -
Two more singles off their debut album ,One Touch, fail to duplicate the success of "Overload", the band is eventually dropped by their record label, and there are rumors of quarrelling among the girls. During a promotional tour of Japan, Siobhan abruptly hops a flight back to the UK, never to return. Siobhan is then replaced by Heidi Range, a former member of the English pop group Atomic Kitten.

2002 -
Heidi, Keisha, and Mutya begin work on their second album. During the recording, they ink a new deal with Island Records and have a chance meeting with producer Richard X. Renowned for his work in the "bastard pop" scene, X asks the girls to record vocals for a mash-up of Gary Numan's "Are Friends Electric" set to the lyrics of Adina Howard's "Freak Like Me". The resulting song, "Freak Like Me", is released as the album's first single in April 2002 and storms the UK charts at number 1. It is an instant critical favorite, earning praise from areas not typically keen on pop music. Their next single, "Round Round", produced by Xenomania, becomes another UK chart-topper and cements their status as 2002's break-out pop act. Sugababes' second album, Angels With Dirty Faces, is released in August and goes triple-platinum.

2003 -
The girls waste no time in following the critical and commercial success of their second album. Their third album, aptly titled Three, is preceeded by the band's third #1 hit, "Hole In the Head", again produced by Xenomania. "Hole In the Head" is released as a promotional single in the United States in 2004, and though they fail to break the market when it peaks at number 96 on the Hot 100 chart, the song does reach number 1 on the club play chart and is a dancefloor favorite for that year.

2005 -
Sugababes return in autumn 2005 with their fourth album, Taller In More Ways, which debuts at number 1. The lead single, "Push The Button", is their biggest hit at the time, spending three weeks at number 1 and nominated for 2005's British single of the year. In December, following the top five success of the single "Ugly", Mutya announces that she's leaving the Sugababes to spend time with her daughter. She is replaced by Amelle Berrabah.

2006 -
With the third line-up change in five years, Sugababes push forward with the new single "Red Dress". Its top 10 success proves that fans are warming up to Amelle's presence. Later that year, they issue Overloaded, a compilation of past hits and two new tracks. A new single, "Easy", becomes the group's twelfth top ten hit.

2007 -
Sugababes earn their fifth number 1 with "Walk This Way", a collaboration with fellow girlband Girls Aloud for the Comic Relief charity. Later that year, the new single "About You Now" takes the charts by storm and becomes their biggest hit ever. "About You Now" spends four weeks at number 1 and is the sixth best-selling UK single of the year. Their fifth album Change reiceves mixed reviews, and subsequent singles "Change" and "Denial" both miss the top 10.

2008 -
After touring in the spring to promote Change, Keisha, Heidi and Amelle record their sixth album, Catfights and Spotlights. The first single, "Girls", reaches #3, but the album barely limps into the top 10 and is their lowest-selling album to date. Critical response is mixed, though the majority of reviews agreed that the group is loosing the cool edge that made them such an acclaimed act.

2009 -
The Sugababes announce they were jetting to Los Angeles to record a new album and inking a new deal with Jay-Z's Roc Nation label. "Get Sexy" is the first single off the new album, and reaches #2 in the UK. Shortly afterwards, rumors swirl that Amelle has quit the band. After days of speculating, the Sugababes' label announced on September 21 that Keisha, the last founding Sugababe, is leaving the band and being replaced with Eurovision contestant Jade Ewen. The new album, titled Sweet 7, is still expected to be released in November.

There we have it. Eleven years of Sugababes, most of those years churning out some fairly incredible pop music. You can't deny though that the last two or three years have not been their best, and though Amelle was eventually welcomed by the majority of Sugababes fans, the group has lost much of their cool, mysterious edge.

With this brand new line-up, there really is little point to continue on with the band, and everyone involved ought to just move on with their lives.

It was nice while it lasted, though.