The Honeyz
Encyclopedia
Honeyz were a British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

-based R&B
Contemporary R&B
Contemporary R&B is a music genre that combines elements of hip hop, soul, R&B and funk.Although the abbreviation “R&B” originates from traditional rhythm and blues music, today the term R&B is most often used to describe a style of African American music originating after the demise of disco in...

 girl group
Girl group
A girl group is a popular music act featuring several young female singers who generally harmonise together.Girl groups emerged in the late 1950s as groups of young singers teamed up with behind-the-scenes songwriters and music producers to create hit singles, often featuring glossy production...

 formed in 1997.

Early years

The lineup was initially made up of Heavenli Roberts (Heavenli Abdi at the time), Naima Belkhiati, and Célena Cherry
Célena Cherry
Célena Cherry is the lead singer of the 1990s UK girl group, Honeyz.-Solo career:...

. Their debut single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...

, "Finally Found
Finally Found
"Finally Found" is a song by the Honeyz, released as the group's first single in 1998. The song was their most successful single in the UK and worldwide, securing a number 4 position on the UK Singles Chart and earning platinum status in Australia....

", was released in 1998 and peaked at number 4 in the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

, which remained their biggest hit
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...

.

They were also nominated for the BRIT Awards
Brit Awards
The Brit Awards are the British Phonographic Industry's annual pop music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain" or "Britannia", but subsequently became a backronym for British Record Industry Trust...

 in the categories Best Newcomer and Best R&B Act.
"Finally Found", released in August 1998, went on to sell more than half a million copies. The follow-up, "End of the Line"(written by award winning songwriter Paul Begaud), notched up similar sales figures, peaking at number 5 on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

 and reaching #1 on the UK R&B Charts. Their debut album Wonder No. 8
Wonder No. 8
Wonder No. 8 is the debut album by UK group Honeyz, released in 1998 and re-released one year later. Three singles were lifted from the original version and two more from the re-released version with new member Mariama Goodman . All five singles were top 10 in the UK...

went gold in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 with sales of over 250,000 copies. If you were a fan of R&B at the time those girls would probably be the hottest new names to drop.
Aside from their success in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, they performed with a full orchestra
Orchestra
An orchestra is a sizable instrumental ensemble that contains sections of string, brass, woodwind, and percussion instruments. The term orchestra derives from the Greek ορχήστρα, the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...

 in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, to 8,000 people at Childline in Dublin, duetted with Lionel Richie
Lionel Richie
Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr. , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Since 1968, he has been a member of the musical group Commodores signed to Motown Records...

 in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

, and saw their first single, "Finally Found", go double platinum in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

. In the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

, they signed to Def Jam/Island
The Island Def Jam Music Group
The Island Def Jam Motown Music Group, formerly The Island Def Jam Music Group, is an umbrella label formed in 1999 when Universal Music Group merged two of its daughter companies, Island Records and Def Jam Recordings, to create a label group. In 2011, Motown Records was split from the Universal...

, providing backing vocals
Backing vocalist
A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...

 to a Foxy Brown track and also worked with producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...

 Stevie J
Stevie J
--MSGOLDBERG1 23:09, 23 November 2011 Stevie J. is an American musician, singer, record producer and songwriter. This upstate New Yorker is the leader of the Bad Boy Entertainment Hitmen roster of in-house producers and writers during the 90s and thus worked often with the label's owner Sean...

.

Departure of Roberts and the arrival of Goodman

During their second promotional trip to Australia in March 1999, Belkhiati and Cherry heard that Roberts had decided to quit the group for personal reasons, including spending more time with her boyfriend, Matthew Marsden
Matthew Marsden
Matthew Marsden is an English actor and singer. In the United Kingdom he is widely remembered for playing the character Chris Collins in the popular soap opera, Coronation Street. However, he is best known in the USA as a film actor. He has played the roles of Paris in Helen of Troy, Dr...

.

The gap left by Roberts' departure opened an opportunity for former Solid HarmoniE
Solid HarmoniE
Solid HarmoniE were a British pop girl group, formed in 1996. Initially, the band was made up of Rebecca Onslow, Melissa Graham and Mariama Goodman, however Goodman left in 1997 to care for her mother. She was replaced by Elisa Cariera...

 vocalist Mariama Goodman
Mariama Goodman
Mariama Goodman is an English dancer and singer who has been a member of the bands Solid HarmoniE and the Honeyz but started her career as a dancer.-Biography:...

. Her arrival was announced exclusively on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...

's Live & Kicking
Live & Kicking
Live & Kicking was a BBC Saturday morning children's magazine programme, running from 1993 to 2001. The fourth in a succession of Saturday morning shows, it was the replacement for Going Live!, and took many of its features from it, such as phone-ins, games, comedy, competitions and the showing of...

on 10 April 1999, in time for the release of the group's third single, "Love of a Lifetime
Love of a Lifetime
"Love of a Lifetime" is a song performed by the American rock band FireHouse. It was the band's third single and its highest charting single in the United States, peaking at #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 in September 1991. It is also the band's first and most popular power ballad. The song was...

", which reached number 9 later that month. The new lineup performed over the summer of 1999, at venues including London's Mardi Gras
Mardi Gras
The terms "Mardi Gras" , "Mardi Gras season", and "Carnival season", in English, refer to events of the Carnival celebrations, beginning on or after Epiphany and culminating on the day before Ash Wednesday...

 and Capital Radio
Capital Radio
Capital London is a London based radio station which launched on 16 October 1973 and is owned by Global Radio. On 3 January 2011 it formed part of the nine station Capital radio network.- Pre-launch :...

's Party in the Park
Party in the Park
Party in the Park is the generic name given to music concerts organised by various radio stations and local authorities in England and Wales, typically in large parks during the summer.-Leeds' Party in the Park:...

 concert in Hyde Park
Hyde Park, London
Hyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, United Kingdom, and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...

 in July. At the radio event, performed in front of 100,000 people, Honeyz sang their hits "Finally Found" and "End Of The Line", before duetting
Duet (music)
A duet is a musical composition for two performers. In classical music, the term is most often used for a composition for two singers or pianists; with other instruments, the word duo is also often used. A piece performed by two pianists performing together on the same piano is referred to as...

 with Another Level on the Help A London Child single "Holding Back The Years". This was followed later in the month by a performance at the Wicked Women concert
Concert
A concert is a live performance before an audience. The performance may be by a single musician, sometimes then called a recital, or by a musical ensemble, such as an orchestra, a choir, or a musical band...

 in Hyde Park, in aid of Breast Cancer Research. In September, Honeyz supported Five
Five (band)
Five were an English boyband put together in 1997 by the same team that managed the Spice Girls before they launched their career. The five members were Scott Robinson, Ritchie Neville, J Brown, Abs Breen and Sean Conlon. Signed by Simon Cowell, they were a manufactured band and held several...

 at London's Brixton Academy and Manchester Apollo
Manchester Apollo
O2 Apollo Manchester is a concert venue in Manchester, England. Locally known as The Apollo, it is a listed building, with a capacity of 3,500 ....

, in events organised in conjunction with Cadburys and MTV
MTV
MTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....

.

October 1999 saw the release of their fourth single, "Never Let You Down
Never Let You Down
"Never Let You Down" is a song by UK-based girl group Honeyz, released as the group's fourth single. It is their first single with the new member, Mariama Goodman.-Track listing:UK Part I#"Never Let You Down"#"Summertime"...

", a track recorded for inclusion on a re-packaged version of Wonder No. 8, and the first single to feature the vocals of Goodman. The single entered into the UK Singles Chart at number 7, making it their fourth consecutive Top 10 hit.

Honeyz performed another newly recorded album track, "Won't Take It Lying Down
Won't Take It Lying Down
"Won't Take It Lying Down" is a song by UK-based girl group Honeyz, released as the group's fifth single. It is their last single with member, Mariama Goodman before departing months later.-Track listing:UK Part I...

", at the MOBO Awards
MOBO Awards
The Music of Black Origin Awards, established in 1995 by Kanya King MBE and Andy Ruffell, are held annually in the United Kingdom to recognise artists of any ethnicity or nationality performing black music....

, held on 6 October 1999 in the Royal Albert Hall
Royal Albert Hall
The Royal Albert Hall is a concert hall situated on the northern edge of the South Kensington area, in the City of Westminster, London, England, best known for holding the annual summer Proms concerts since 1941....

, where they had two nominations in the 'Best Newcomer' and 'Best R&B Act' categories. "Won't Take It Lying Down" went on to be released at the end of February 2000, reaching number 7. It became the last Top 10 single that Honeyz achieved.

At the 2000 Maxim
Maxim (magazine)
Maxim is an international men's magazine based in the United Kingdom and known for its pictorials featuring popular actresses, singers, and female models, sometimes pictured dressed, often pictured scantily dressed but not fully nude....

awards, they picked up the award for the Best British Girl Band, beating The Spice Girls, Hepburn
Hepburn (band)
Hepburn were a four-piece British all-girl pop rock band. The band released an album and three singles in 1999-2000, but is best known for their first single, "I Quit", which reached #8 on the UK charts, and was best known to American audiences when it appeared on the soundtrack to the TV series,...

, Thunderbugs
Thunderbugs
Thunderbugs were a British girl group, briefly popular in 1999. Unlike most other girl groups, they played their own instruments. Their one hit, "Friends Forever", reached number 5 in the UK Singles Chart in September 1999. Their follow-up single, "It's About Time You Were Mine", failed to reach...

 and Eternal
Eternal (band)
Eternal were an English R&B girl group formed in 1992. The group featured two sisters Easther and Vernie Bennett, alongside Kelle Bryan and Louise Nurding...

 to the title.

Departure of Goodman and the return of Roberts

By the summer of 2000, a new song had been recorded, which was confirmed as not only the first single to be taken from a planned forthcoming new album, but also a chosen single from the Nutty Professor II: The Klumps
Nutty Professor II: The Klumps
Nutty Professor II: The Klumps is a 2000 comedy film directed by Peter Segal. It is the sequel to the 1996 film The Nutty Professor and stars Eddie Murphy and Janet Jackson. Murphy plays not only the inept but brilliant scientist, Sherman Klump, as in the first film, but also most of Sherman's...

original soundtrack, with the Honeyz featuring on the UK version alongside Sisqó
Sisqó
Mark Durrell Andrews , known by his stage name Sisqó, is an American R&B singer and actor. He is best known as the lead singer of R&B group Dru Hill, and also for "Thong Song", a song from his first solo LP, Unleash the Dragon, that became an international hit. - Biography :Sisqó was born Mark...

 and Janet Jackson
Janet Jackson
Janet Damita Jo Jackson is an American recording artist and actress. Known for a series of sonically innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows, television and film roles, she has been a prominent figure in popular culture for over 25 years...

. The single, "Not Even Gonna Trip
Not Even Gonna Trip
"Not Even Gonna Trip" is a song by UK-based girl group the Honeyz, released as their sixth single, and the first with returning member Heavenli since "Love of a Lifetime".-Track listing:UK Part I#"Not Even Gonna Trip"...

", was initially scheduled for release in September 2000.

It was during the run-up to the single release, in August, that Goodman announced her departure from the Honeyz. Former member Roberts rejoined and her vocals were added to "Not Even Gonna Trip". The revised lineup was announced on ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

's SMTV/CD:UK, on 19 August 2000, along with a performance of "Finally Found". It was also the song sung on the first performance by a band on CD:UK on its launch almost two years earlier.

"Not Even Gonna Trip" peaked at Number 24 in October 2000. Their next single, "I Don't Know", was released in August 2001 and reached number 28.

They were to release another single, "Talk to the Hand", in late 2001. A video
Music video
A music video or song video is a short film integrating a song and imagery, produced for promotional or artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a marketing device intended to promote the sale of music recordings...

 was filmed, however Mercury Records
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...

 made the decision to drop the group, and plans for the release of the group's second album, Harmony, were shelved; following this and a departure from their management company First Avenue Records
First Avenue Records
First Avenue Records was a record label which was acquired by Arista Records....

 the group decided to go their separate ways in 2002.

Brief reunion and disbandment

2005 saw the band reform. In January 2005, Honeyz contributed to an Asian tsunami relief charity single, "Grief Never Grows Old", collaborating with Boy George
Boy George
Boy George is a British singer-songwriter who was part of the English New Romantic movement which emerged in the early 1980s. He helped give androgyny an international stage with the success of Culture Club during the 1980s. His music is often classified as blue-eyed soul, which is influenced by...

 and Cliff Richard
Cliff Richard
Sir Cliff Richard, OBE is a British pop singer, musician, performer, actor, and philanthropist who has sold over an estimated 250 million records worldwide....

. The same year they appeared on the ITV singing contest Hit Me Baby One More Time
Hit Me Baby One More Time
Hit Me, Baby, One More Time was a 2005 reality show first aired by ITV on British television and later, as a new version, by NBC in the United States; both were presented by Vernon Kay. During each programme, five former pop stars sing their biggest hit along with a cover version of a contemporary...

, performing their debut single "Finally Found" and a cover
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...

 of Nickelback
Nickelback
Nickelback is a Canadian rock band from Hanna, Alberta. Since 1995 the band has included guitarist and lead vocalist Chad Kroeger, guitarist and back-up vocalist Ryan Peake and bassist Mike Kroeger.. The band's current drummer and percussionist is Daniel Adair who has been with the band since 2005....

's hit "How You Remind Me
How You Remind Me
"How You Remind Me" is a single from rock band Nickelback's 2001 album, Silver Side Up. A "Gold Mix" was made for latter editions of the single with the heavier guitars edited out of the chorus. This single would be the last rock single to be #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 until Maroon 5's song "Makes...

". This was the last performance with founding member Belkhiati who left the band shortly after; her placement was temporarily filled by Cherry's sister Candace Cherry, formerly a member of Kleshay
Kleshay
Kleshay were an all female British R&B trio from the 1990s, who had two Top 40 hits. Their first track was "Reasons", reaching number 33 in the UK Singles Chart in 1998, this got them onto Trevor Nelson's lick pick of the week...

.

In August 2006 Roberts left the band due to pregnancy and was replaced, again, by Goodman, who filled in for Roberts for the remainder of their committed shows.

In 2009, Célena and Candace Cherry, plus Goodman performed on a regular basis at Butlins adult themed weekends, including the Skool Reunion where they performed a five song set - "Won't Take It Lying Down", "Love Of A Lifetime (Remix)", "End Of The Line", "Never Let You Down" and "Finally Found".

Solo material

In June 2003, Cherry released a single with her cousin
Cousin
In kinship terminology, a cousin is a relative with whom one shares one or more common ancestors. The term is rarely used when referring to a relative in one's immediate family where there is a more specific term . The term "blood relative" can be used synonymously and establishes the existence of...

 Alani (also a former member of Kleshay) under the name Anotherside, through V2 Records
V2 Records
V2 Records is a record label that is owned by Universal Music Group as of October 2007. The label was founded in 1996 by Richard Branson, five years after he sold Virgin Records to EMI....

. The song, "This Is Your Night", reached Number 41 in the UK Chart, and their brief partnership came to a close.

In 2005, Célena Cherry released a self-titled solo album available through her website. It included three Honeyz hits (re-arranged and re-recorded), three Christmas songs and four new songs. According to Cherry's website, Honeyz were recording a new album as a group at that time, following her acting appearances on the soaps Hollyoaks
Hollyoaks
Hollyoaks is a long-running British television soap opera, first broadcast on Channel 4 on 23 October 1995. It was originally devised by Phil Redmond, who has also devised shows including Brookside and Grange Hill...

and Doctors
Doctors (BBC Soap Opera)
Doctors is a British daytime television soap opera, set in the fictional Midland town of Letherbridge, defined as being close to the City of Birmingham. It was created by Chris Murray; Mal Young drove its development, and Carson Black was the original producer. The first episode was broadcast on...

.

Albums

Date Title Chart (UK
UK Albums Chart
The UK Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales in the United Kingdom. It is compiled every week by The Official Charts Company and broadcast on a Sunday on BBC Radio 1 , and published in Music Week magazine and on the OCC website .To qualify for the UK albums chart...

)
Comment
1998 Wonder No. 8
Wonder No. 8
Wonder No. 8 is the debut album by UK group Honeyz, released in 1998 and re-released one year later. Three singles were lifted from the original version and two more from the re-released version with new member Mariama Goodman . All five singles were top 10 in the UK...

33 Original release
2001 Harmony n/a Unreleased
2006 The Collection - Greatest hits
Greatest hits
A greatest hits album is a music compilation album of successful, previously released songs by a particular artist or band...


Singles

Year Single Chart positions Album
UK
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...

IRL
Irish Singles Chart
The Irish Singles Chart is Ireland's music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by the Irish Recorded Music Association and compiled on behalf of the IRMA by Chart-Track. Chart rankings are based on sales, which are compiled through over-the-counter retail data captured...

AUS
ARIA Charts
The ARIA charts are the main Australian music sales charts, issued weekly by the Australian Recording Industry Association. The charts are a record of the highest selling singles and albums in various genres in Australia. ARIA commenced compiling its own charts in-house from the week ending 26 June...

NZ
Recording Industry Association of New Zealand
The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand...

SWE
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

1998 "Finally Found
Finally Found
"Finally Found" is a song by the Honeyz, released as the group's first single in 1998. The song was their most successful single in the UK and worldwide, securing a number 4 position on the UK Singles Chart and earning platinum status in Australia....

"
4 4 3 23 6
Wonder No. 8
Wonder No. 8
Wonder No. 8 is the debut album by UK group Honeyz, released in 1998 and re-released one year later. Three singles were lifted from the original version and two more from the re-released version with new member Mariama Goodman . All five singles were top 10 in the UK...

"End of the Line" 5 7 24 35
1999 "Love of a Lifetime
Love of a Lifetime (Honeyz song)
"Love of a Lifetime" is a song by the Honeyz, released as the group's third single. It is their last single with co-founding member, Heavenli Abdi before departing from the group months later.-Track listing:Netherlands...

"
9 26
"Never Let You Down
Never Let You Down
"Never Let You Down" is a song by UK-based girl group Honeyz, released as the group's fourth single. It is their first single with the new member, Mariama Goodman.-Track listing:UK Part I#"Never Let You Down"#"Summertime"...

"
7
2000 "Won't Take It Lying Down
Won't Take It Lying Down
"Won't Take It Lying Down" is a song by UK-based girl group Honeyz, released as the group's fifth single. It is their last single with member, Mariama Goodman before departing months later.-Track listing:UK Part I...

"
7 30
"Not Even Gonna Trip
Not Even Gonna Trip
"Not Even Gonna Trip" is a song by UK-based girl group the Honeyz, released as their sixth single, and the first with returning member Heavenli since "Love of a Lifetime".-Track listing:UK Part I#"Not Even Gonna Trip"...

"
24
Harmony
2001 "I Don't Know" 28
"Talk to the Hand"

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK