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The A*Teens was a successful pop music group from Stockholm, Sweden, formed in 1998 as ABBA Teens and later renamed to A*Teens. The four Swedish-born members of this group have sold over 9.1 million albums and 2 million singles worldwide. The band's members were:
- Marie Eleonor Serneholt, born Monday July 11, 1983 in Stockholm.
- Amit Sebastian Paul, born Saturday October 29, 1983 in Boden.
- John Dhani Lennevald, born Tuesday July 24, 1984 in Stockholm.
- Sara Helena Lumholdt, born Thursday October 25, 1984 in Solna.
A-Teens: Formation and name change
In 1998, Marie, Amit, Dhani, and Sara were musically united as the ABBA Teens. However, upon the request of Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson of the legendary Swedish group ABBA, the group's name was changed to the A*Teens to avoid confusion. This choice allowed the band more freedom in creating their own style of music and not be solely based around ABBA.
A-Teens: History
In 1999, the A*Teens released their first album "The ABBA Generation" consisting purely of ABBA covers reinterpreted with a modern pop and techno flair to appeal to a new generation of young pop fans. Mamma Mia their first single, topped the Charts in 10 countries, including their home country, Sweden, where it stayed at #1 for 8 consecutive weeks, Their debut album hit #1 on Swedish Charts and other countries, and went Top Ten across the world, the next singles enjoyed similar success ensuring Top Ten Placings across the globe. The A-Teens toured some with *NSYNC and Britney Spears in the United States, where their album reached #71 on the Billboard Charts and selling a million copies in the US Alone and almost 4 million copies Worldwide going Gold or Platinum in 22 different countries.
The A*Teens' sophomore album, entitled "Teen Spirit", featured a compilation of tracks that were not ABBA covers, the band promoted the album around the world in late 2000, and when the album was released in February 26, 2001, it debuted at #2 in the Swedish Charts, #1 in Mexico, Thailand, Singapore and reached the Top Ten in 10 other countries and peaked at #50 on the United States Billboard 200 and #14 on CNN'S WorldBeat Album Charts, ensuring Gold Status for sales exceeding the 500,000 copies in the United States alone. Prior to the release of the album, the A*Teens became one of the first bands to broadcast one of their shows on MSN's Websites
The group promoted their album with a United States tour also featuring Aaron Carter, back in Europe, the band toured with No Angels in Germany. The A*Teens were nominated for several awards across the world. By the end of 2001, "Teen Spirit" went on to sell over 3 million copies worldwide.
After a short break, the A*Teens released their third album "Pop 'Til You Drop!"
exclusively in the United States in 2002. By public demand, the album was released in several Latin American countries. In Mexico the album was well received by the public. On their promo visit to Mexico in November 2002 the A*Teens had the opportunity to perform for the Swedish King and Queen and the President of Mexico in a Special Show organized by the Mexican government. "Pop 'Til You Drop!" peaked at #45 on the Billboard 200 in the United States, ensuring Gold Status, and to promote the album, the group headlined their own successful United States tour in 2002 with Play, LMNT and Jump5, called Pop 'Til You Drop! Tour, The band, again broadcasted their show through AOL.
In 2003, the International version of the album, entitled New Arrival (a throwback to the ABBA album entitled Arrival), was released. It combined tracks from the last effort "Pop 'Til You Drop" and new tracks, making a whole new album, or a "half-new album," as they described it. Some of the material on these two albums was co-written by the members of the A*Teens. The majority of tracks, while recorded in Sweden, were the work of producers from the United States, Norway, Denmark and Sweden.
In 2003, the A*Teens embarked on their New Arrival Tour across Europe, mainly Sweden, where the album peaked at #4, ensuring Platinum Status. They came back to Mexico in April 2003 to promote their album when it peaked at #2 on the album charts, earning a Platinum Certification. Back in their homeland the band was nominated for a Swedish Hit Music Award on the Category "Swedish artist/group of the year".
After the intense promotion in 2002 and 2003 the total sales of Pop 'Til You Drop together with New Arrival were a total of 1.6 million copies.
A-Teens: Greatest Hits
The A*Teens' fourth album Greatest Hits was released in Europe, Asia and Latin America in 2004. The album was never released in the United States. In late 2003 MCA records was absorbed by Geffen Records, and many believe this was the reason Greatest Hits never materialized in the United States.
Though this album is a greatest hits compilation, a few new songs were included, such as a cover of Nick Kamen's single I Promised Myself which topped the South American Video Charts and went to #2 on the Swedish Official Single Sales Charts, becoming the last A*Teens hit. The album sold 500,000 copies worldwide. Since the release of this album, the members announced that a break was in need.
A-Teens: "A Memory"
On April 15, 2006, Marie Serneholt's Swedish website officially announced that the A*Teens have parted ways. A reason for the departure has yet to be announced. In one magazine Marie Serneholt stated, "The A*Teens are nothing but a memory now, we have all started our own projects." Another member of the group, Dhani Lennevald, confirmed his former group-mate's comment.
A-Teens: Solo Efforts
In September 2004, Dhani Lennevald released his first single as a solo artist titled "Girl Talk" in Sweden, where it peaked #20 ensuring Gold Status after nine weeks on the charts. Dhani and Universal Music parted ways in 2005, now he's preparing the release of his first solo album later in 2006.
In 2005, Marie Serneholt signed with SonyBMG and in early 2006, she released her first single as a solo artist titled "That's The Way My Heart Goes", it reached #2 in Sweden on February, and was later released in Europe and certified Gold in Sweden, followed by the album Enjoy the Ride which peaked at #9 in her homeland. The album is expected to be released worldwide. Her second single "I Need A House" has been released throughout Europe. The debut single "That's The Way My Heart Goes" is expected to be released in North and South America in October 2006.
Amit Paul is also preparing for his solo debut as well, "Songs In a Key of Mine".
Sara Lumholdt has made little announcement about her upcoming debut album. In March of 2007, Sara released a cover of the Olivia Newton John song Let's Get Physical. She released the song under the name of Sara Love. |
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