This vocal quintet was formed by the five rejects from the UK final of Popstars, the docu-soap series that became one of the television hits of 2001. While the five winners formed the ill-fated Hear'Say, Kevin Simm (b. 5 September 1980, Chorley, Lancashire, England), Jessica Taylor (b. 23 June 1980, Preston, Lancashire, England), Kelli Young (b. 7 April 1981, England), Michelle Heaton (b. 19 July 1980, Newcastle, Tyne & Wear, England), and Tony Lundon (b. Anthony Lundon, 13 April 1979, Galway, Eire) signed a recording contract with V2 Records and began recording as Liberty. Favouring a more urban-orientated sound than Hear'Say, Liberty's debut single "Thinking It Over" was co-written with Pete Devereux of Artful Dodger and reached the UK Top 5 in autumn 2001. The follow-up "Doin' It" entered the Top 20, but shortly after its release the group's career was put on hold when another act called Liberty took them to court over the ownership of the name.
Renamed Liberty X following the court case, the quintet bounced back in May 2002 with the seductive and highly catchy "Just A Little". The track went straight to UK number 1 and became one of the year's most played radio tracks. By this point, Liberty X's singles were outperforming releases by their more famous Popstars rivals, who disbanded in September in bitter circumstances. Liberty X's delayed debut Thinking It Over was a considerable improvement on the vapid pop of Hear'Say's albums, and featured two further UK Top 5 singles, "Got To Have Your Love" and "Holding On For You". Liberty X returned to the UK charts in spring 2003 with "Being Nobody", a combination of Chaka Khan's "Ain't Nobody" and the Human League's "Being Boiled" produced by leading "bootleg" DJ Richard X. They enjoyed further UK singles success with "Jumpin'" and "Everybody Cries", taken from their second album Being Somebody.
During 2004 Liberty X took a break from the music industry, with Heaton (Celebrity Wrestling), Simm (The Games) and Taylor (Come Ice Skating) all branching out into television. The following year they reconvened Liberty X and, after parting company with V2 and signing to the independent label Unique Sound Ventures, set about completing work on a third album. "Song 4 Lovers" (featuring Rev Run of Run-DMC) returned the quintet to the UK Top 10 in October.
DISCOGRAPHY: Thinking It Over (V2 2002)***, Being Somebody (V2 2003)**, X (Unique 2005)***.
VIDEOGRAPHY: Just A Little ... (Sanctuary 2003).

Encyclopedia of Popular Music
Copyright 2008 by Muze Inc.; all rights reserved.