It was inevitable, but yesterday Keisha Buchanan, the sole original member of the Sugababes, quit the girl group after 11 years, to concentrate on her own music.
She follows Siobhan Donaghy (who left in 2001) and Mutya Buena (said bye in 2005) – both of who have attempted solo careers with less than spectacular results.
What’s more bewildering is that Heidi Range and Amelle Berribah are going to continue as the Sugababes, seamlessly replacing Keisha with Jade Ewen, last year’s failed UK Eurovision entrant.
Am I the only one who finds this just a little bit strange? How can a group that has none of its original members honestly pretend that they’re the real thing?
Some time last year, The Temptations appeared on Jonathan Ross’ Friday night show and, as fantastic as they were, it was a shock to discover that only one of the five was an original member – at least one was there, though.
There are numerous versions of the Drifters in existence on the tour circuit and surely they can’t all contain an original member, while the Beach Boys play in about three different incarnations, although not all by the proper name.
I suppose there will be money for the Sugababes in around 10 years when the original three decide to reunite and warble some of their early hits, but in the meantime this latest chapter in their history sums up how deceptive the music industry really is.
Anyway, here’s a video of the original line-up performing Overload, back in 2000
