A1

a1
A1 in 2010
Background information
Origin	United Kingdom and Norway
Genres	Pop, pop rock, dance-pop
Years active	1998–2002, 2009–present
Labels	Universal Music Norway (2009–present) BMG (1998–2002) Epic Records (1998–2002)
Associated acts	Eve Angeli, Steps
Website	http://www.a1official.com/
Members
Christian Ingebrigtsen Mark Read Ben Adams
Past members
Paul Marazzi

A1 are a British-Norwegian pop group. They were originally made up of Christian Ingebrigtsen, Mark Read, Ben Adams and Paul Marazzi. Their first single, "Be the First to Believe", entered the UK singles chart at #6 in early 1999. They had a huge amount of success worldwide and charts with two number #1s and eight top 10 hits. Adding to this they also won a BRIT Award for "British Breakthrough Act" in 2001. They were formed by band manager Tim Byrne, who also formed Steps. A1 came to an end in 2002 when original member Paul Marazzi left in 2002 and the band subsequently decided to split.

In December 2009 Ingebrigtsen, Read and Adams reformed A1, without Marazzi, for a series of concerts at the Christiania Theatre in Oslo.^[1] Since their comeback they have released four new singles, "Take You Home", "Don't Wanna Lose You Again", "In Love and I Hate It" and "Waiting for Daylight". Their fourth studio album, Waiting for Daylight, was released on 11 October 2010. The band have sold 3 million records worldwide.

Career

A1, consisting of Paul Marazzi, Christian Ingebrigtsen, Mark Read and Ben Adams were formed in 1998 by the management team of Tim Byrne and Vicky Blood. They signed with Columbia Records in February 1999 and released "Be the First to Believe" in Summer 1999.^[2] In 2000 they achieved two number ones with "Take on Me" and the hit "Same Old Brand New You". The video for their seventh single, "No More", was filmed in Singapore while they were on tour there. In 2001, the band began a massive arena tour of Asia, where they were very well received. During a concert in Indonesia, four teenage girls were killed in a stampede.^[3] In 2001, Sony Music launched a paid subscription service for A1 called 'Access All Areas', the first for an artist signed to the company. This was a very early version of a social network allowing fans to meet and chat online. The subscription service was a forerunner of an online fan club which has since become more popular amongst musicians. Their third album, Make It Good, featured a sound closer to traditional rock music, but was to be their last studio project. The 3rd album have a lot of success then on 8 October 2002, Paul Marazzi left the group citing personal reasons,^[4] and a1 subsequently decided to split.^[5] In January 2004, Asian fans were treated to an exclusive Best Of A1 album, a compilation featuring all of their singles, two previously unreleased concert recordings and three exclusive B-Sides. In 2009, following Adams' appearance on Celebrity Big Brother,^[6] the band released their Greatest Hits in the UK.

Post A1 and solo careers

In 2005, Ben Adams went on to release his first solo single, "Sorry", which peaked at #18 on the UK Singles Chart. Adams was also due to record an album but due to an argument with his record label, he was later dropped. In 2009, he appeared as a contestant on Celebrity Big Brother, becoming one of the remaining five housemates.^[7] He attracted much attention later that same year when he posed naked for the cover of Attitude Magazine.^[8] In 2003, Christian Ingebrigtsen also began a solo career, with his first solo single, "In Love With An Angel", being released in 2004. The single stayed in the Top 10 of the Norway Singles Chart for nearly three months. The song was switfly followed by "Things Are Gonna Change", which became Ingebrigsten's final solo single before he moved into other areas of showbusiness. In 2002, Mark Read focused on becoming a songwriter for other artists, after signing a deal with Metrophonic. Read has written for artists such as Charlotte Church, Joe Brown, Sam Brown, Mark Owen, Jarvis Cocker and Roger Cook. Read released his debut solo single, "Greatest Lady In My Life", on the 2 March 2009. The single featured a karaoke version of the track, exclusive to retailers iTunes and Amazon.^[9] His debut solo album, Peace At Last, was released in June 2009. Months after he left the band, Paul hosted the Andy Cole Children's Foundation (now All Star Kids) on April 26, 2003 together with Jo Good.^[10] He turned down the offer to appear in I'm a Celebrity... Get Me out of Here! in 2004^[11] Later in late 2005, he started forming a soul/rock band in Sunderland, Northeast England. The band was named Snagsby in 2006. Later in 2008, the band announced in their official MySpace that Marazzi is leaving Snagsby on January 2009. Paul then went to work in The George Hotel in Whitby as a club DJ.^[11]

Reunion

In November 2008, the remaining members of the band formed a MySpace account to keep fans updated of their current situation.^[12] In Summer 2009, the band made an official announcement, stating that not only were they to reform, but they were to play a series of concerts in Oslo in December of that year. The announcement also stated that the band's first new single in seven years, "Take You Home", would be released via iTunes in Norway on 2 November. The single entered the Norway Singles Chart at #9, based on download sales only. It was announced in late 2009 that the band would compete to represent Norway in the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest, with the band's second single since their reformation, "Don't Wanna Lose You Again".^[13] The song peaked at #4 on the Norwegian Singles Chart, based entirely on download sales. The band reached the final of the contest and finished in second place^{[citation needed]}. The band made their official UK comeback on New Year's Eve by performing at the Heaven New Year's Eve Party in South London. In March 2010, the band embarked on a worldwide tour that began in Norway, with performances in Oslo, Stavanger, Kristiansand, Bergen, Trondheim and Haugesund. The tour extended to Europe and ROTW in Autumn 2010. The band's first new studio album since 2002 was released on 11 October 2010, and includes the singles "Take You Home", "Don't Wanna Lose You Again", "In Love and I Hate It" and "Waiting for Daylight". In October 2011, the group appeared on Channel 5's OK TV^[14] to promote their British comeback gig at the O2 Academy Islington on October 31, 2011. The gig received positive reviews from sites such as This Must Be Pop^[15] and Time Out.^[16] On November 18, 2011, the band released a brand new single, "Another Year Gone". On February 28, 2012, the group performed at the Singapore Indoor Stadium with Blue and Jeff Timmons from 98 degrees. The concert was entitled "The Greatest Hits Tour: Blue, Jeff Timmons of 98 Degrees and a1 – Live in Singapore." ^[17] They also visited Jakarta, Indonesia and Manila, Philippines as part of the concert tour.^[18][19] On May 8, 2012, the band announced the release of a brand new single, "Just Three Words", a duet with Annie Khalid.

Discography

Studio albums

• Here We Come (1999)
• The A List (2000)
• Make It Good (2002)
• Waiting for Daylight (2010)
• Fifth Studio Album (2012)

References

External links

• Official website