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Liberty X (originally called Liberty) are a British girl group consisting of Michelle Heaton, Jessica Taylor and Kelli Young. The group's best-known line-up also included Tony Lundon and Kevin Simm.
The group was formed by the five finalists of the 2001 ITV talent show Popstars who failed to make it into the winning group Hear'Say. The group released their debut album, Thinking It Over, on 27 May 2002 which featured their biggest single "Just a Little", which gave them international success. They released their second studio album Being Somebody a year later on 3 November 2003, although not matching the success of their debut. Following disappointing sales, the group were dropped and later signed with Virgin Records, released a final studio album X on 10 October 2005 and disbanded in 2007. Liberty X went on to achieve ten consecutive UK Top 20 singles, and various charting singles worldwide, leading to greater commercial success than Hear'Say. In 2013, the original line up toured until 2014.
Shortly after forming, Liberty received a legal challenge in the UK High Court from a funk R&B band, also called "Liberty", who achieved success in the 1990s, including being awarded Capital Radio Band of the Year, playing Wembley Arena, European tours and the release of albums in the US, Europe and UK. The original Liberty claimed that the newly formed Liberty was taking advantage of the goodwill that had been created by the former's success (known in English law as the "tort of passing off"). The final judgment was in favour of the funk R&B band and the ex- Popstars then asked readers of UK tabloid newspaper The Sun to suggest a new name. The winning name was "X Liberty", but the group used the entry as the basis for the official title, Liberty X.
"Just a Little" preceded the release of Liberty X's debut album, Thinking It Over (originally called To Those Who Wait). The album reached number three on the UK Albums Chart, eventually selling over one million copies worldwide. Two more hit singles were released from the album, the first being a cover of the 1989 track by electro funk group Mantronix, "Got To Have Your Love"; Mantronix's founding member, Kurtis Mantronik, remixed the Liberty X version for the single release, which peaked at number two in the UK. The final single was "Holding on for You", released in December 2002. The single peaked at number five. During 2002, the group headlined their first arena tour.
The group took a hiatus following record-label issues, and each member decided to work on different individual projects. Simm appeared on Channel 4's The Games, competing in a series of sporting events (in which he placed second overall, behind Philip Olivier). Heaton appeared on ITV's ill-fated Celebrity Wrestling. Jessica Taylor appeared on ITV's Dancing on Ice. Lundon and Young took the time to work on new tracks for the band's third album, whilst producing and writing for other artists. During this period, The Sun newspaper reported that the group were to re-release Being Somebody with a cover of the 1990 hit "Back to Life", but this never materialised. They also released a cover version of the Kool & The Gang song "Fresh" which was released in a selection of European countries, but not the UK. It peaked at number 35 in France.
In late October, the group announced they had been asked to record the official 2005 Children in Need single, so they teamed up with producer Rod Gammons to record two tracks for double A-side release: "A Night to Remember" (a cover of the Shalamar song) and "Everybody Dance" (a (Chic cover). The group performed both singles live on the night, 18 November 2005. The double A-side single entered at number six in the UK; it also peaked at number 16 in France, becoming their biggest hit there since "Just a Little".
In May 2006, the band were featured in the line up of Aberystwyth University May ball, alongside Chesney Hawkes and BodyRockers. Their set was cut short when a smoke bomb was set off during the first two minutes, filling the room with smoke. Firefighters gave the all-clear after 50 minutes, but Liberty X failed to reappear. Students were told the band were not returning to finish their set, met by jeers from the crowd, who had paid £37 each for the evening.
Liberty X returned in June 2006 with the single "X", a remixed version of the X album track. It peaked at number 47. The re-release of the album, which contains "A Night to Remember" and the new version of "X", failed to attract significant consumer interest. "X" also reached just number 89 in France. Despite rumours of splitting, Liberty X announced in 2006 that they were still together but concentrating on solo projects. Heaton wrote on the group's official site that they would be releasing a new single in the new year (2007), a song from a forthcoming film, but this did not happen. Heaton married her partner of four years, Andy Scott-Lee, Taylor got engaged to cricket star Kevin Pietersen, Simm appeared on Channel 4's The Games: Champion of Champions (competing for his team), and Lundon wrote tracks for what would have been the band's fourth album. On 20 May 2007, Liberty X posted a message on their website that said they would no longer record together after the tour:
The group performed their last gig on 2 September 2007, alongside Liz McClarnon, Lisa Scott-Lee and Stonefoxx at the Wiltshire Crime Stoppers charity event held in the grounds of Bowood House, near Chippenham in Wiltshire. The band reunited in August 2008 to perform at Belfast's gay pride celebrations, the first time they had been on stage together in over a year.
Tickets for the Hammersmith Apollo reunion gig went on sale shortly after the premiere of the first episode of The Big Reunion and sold out in less than five minutes. Due to this, it was confirmed that a full UK tour was in the works, later confirmed again by Heaton on her Twitter account. The bands were originally only supposed to perform a one-off concert at London's Hammersmith Apollo on 26 February 2013, but when the entire show sold out in under five minutes shortly after the premiere of the first episode on 31 January 2013, rumours circulated that producers of the show were planning to tour the concert around the UK. On 11 February, it was confirmed that due to high demands for tickets and the popularity of the show, an arena tour around the UK would be taking place from 3–12 May 2013. On 27 March 2013 it was announced that the bands would perform a mini Christmas tour in December 2013.
On 29 March 2013, Heaton confirmed that Liberty X would yet again disband following the concerts, saying: "We talked about it, and we thought we've got so many children between us and quite a few things individually going on that we didn't want the pressure to be successful again. We just wanted to have fun. I know some of the other bands are planning to release new material but Liberty X, we are not planning to do that. We are just enjoying it for what it is. We're going to enjoy the gigs, all the performing and have fun and not take it too seriously – and know at the end, we go back to being mums and dads to our children. That's how it's different." Whilst on Lorraine on 12 September, however, Heaton said, "When we filmed in May, we said 'no' and we said we weren't going to do anything, but because we love it so much, I'd like to say 'never say never'. So maybe ask me again after Christmas." The group performed their final gig together on 15 December 2013.
In 2014, Liberty X signed to 365 Artists Management and toured at the Summer Tour. In 2016, Simm auditioned for the fifth series of The Voice UK
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