history bhind blue
In May 2001, a new band named Blue released their debut single. The next six months saw the band achieve a meteoric rise to fame, becoming the hottest new act in years.

Comprising of London based lads Duncan James, Antony Costa, Lee Ryan and Simon Webbe, Blue released their first single in May 2001. The anthemic "All Rise" entered the UK chart at No. 4 and stayed in the top ten for five weeks.

The next two singles "Too Close" and "If You Come Back" went on to be even bigger hits, both crashing into the chart at No.1 and selling in excess of 200,000 copies each.

The boys followed this massive success with their eagerly anticipated debut album "All Rise" which reached double platinum status in the UK within six weeks of its' release. The album is a confident collection of classic r'n'b tunes. Recorded in the UK and Norway with a variety of top producers including the inimitable Stargate and Ray Ruffin (son of Motown legend Jimmy Ruffin). Showcasing the boys' amazingly mature vocal delivery, tracks range from the infectious and hook laden swing of "All Rise" and "This Temptation", to the heartfelt smooth grooves of "Long Time" and "Best In Me".

The album drew praise from all sides. "A fantastically mature debut album", said Heat, while Top of the Pops Magazine declared the sound "smooth, slick and supersexy". Elle labelled the boys "perfect pop", with trade bible Music Week adding that Blue were "one of the breakthroughs of the year".

Blue ended 2001 on a massive high as the No. 3 album in the fiercely competitive Christmas chart, and picked up numerous awards in end of year polls including "Best Newcomer" at the Smash Hits Awards, "Best Newcomer" in The Sun's Bizarre poll, "Best Band" in the Daily Star's Hot poll and "Best newcomer" in the Pepsi Chart's chart.

Blue start 2002 with 2 nominations in this year's Brits, and they are due to release their fourth single in March 2002. The new single "Fly By" is a brand new version of the track that appears on the album. Reworked and remixed it now makes use of an ingenious sample of Herb Albert's 'Rise' (used more recently by Puffy and Notorious BIG).

In November and December of 2002, Blue will embark on their first ever Arena tour of the UK, taking in Sheffield, Cardiff, Birmingham, Newcastle, Glasgow, Manchester and London's Wembley Arena.

In addition, Blue's success is not restricted to UK shores as the band have recently scored big hits in New Zealand, Australia, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Demark, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Thailand and Ireland.

Duncan says: 'The past year has been crazy and exciting for Blue and we're totally blown aw

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