Atomic Kitten

Atomic Kitten is a British pop girl group from Liverpool, founded in 1998 by OMD members Andy McCluskey and Stuart Kershaw, who continued with them - songwriting and producing - until 2002. In terms of sales, the band is one of the world's most successful girl groups of the 21st century and has sold over ten million records to date.

The producing duo formed the original cast with Liz McClarnon, Kerry Katona and Heidi Range. The latter two were later replaced by Natasha Hamilton and Jenny Frost. Atomic Kitten achieved their commercial breakthrough under the line-up with McClarnon, Hamilton and Frost, which existed from 2001 and remained until their temporary split in 2004.

Atomic Kitten, in addition to numerous awards - including a four-time BRIT Award and two-time MTV Europe Music Award nomination - have achieved three number one hits on the UK singles chart to date: Whole Again, the fourth best-selling girl group single in the UK, Eternal Flame, a cover of the Bangles' 1989 hit, and The Tide Is High (Get the Feeling), also a cover of the Paragons' 1967 hit. They also scored several top ten hits in Europe - particularly in the German-speaking part - as well as Asia, Oceania and South Africa.

In 2005, 2006, and 2008, brief reunions occurred regarding the predominant release of benefit songs. In early 2012, plans for a reunion were announced but later scrapped due to differences between Frost and Katona. Eventually, the reunion still happened when they took part in The Big Reunion documentary aired by British channel ITV2 in early 2013. However, Frost was unable to take part due to her pregnancy and was replaced by Katona. Hamilton later announced that Frost would be welcome to make a comeback at any time.

Due to McClarnon's fear of flying - which prevented her from making long-haul international appearances - Liberty X member Michelle Heaton filled in for her as a temporary Atomic Kitten member from 2016 to 2017.

Katona left Atomic Kitten for the second and final time in December 2017, which has since left the band with the lineup of McClarnon and Hamilton as a duo.

Band History

1998: Foundation and formation

The band called Atomic Kitten was formed in 1998 by British musician Andy McCluskey, best known as the frontman of the new wave band Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD). Karl Bartos - a former member of the German electropop band Kraftwerk - suggested forming a new band as a vehicle for McCluskey's songs, which had "gone completely out of fashion" due to the prevalence of Britpop, following OMD's temporary breakup in 1996.

McCluskey formed Atomic Kitten with fellow OMD member Stuart Kershaw. The lineup originally consisted of Liz McClarnon, Kerry Katona and future Sugababes member Heidi Range, but had no name. In Katona's autobiography Too Much, Too Young: My Story of Love, Survival and Celebrity (2007), she mentions that the band considered names such as "Exit" and "Honeyheads" before settling on "Automatic Kitten", which was the title of a fashion label owned by a fashion designer named Mary Lamb. When Katona told her mother all about the band, her mother's boyfriend, "Bob the Leg," was also present. He was unable to pronounce Automatic Kitten and instead kept saying Atomic Kitten. Katona liked the name and told McClarnon and Range about it; they felt the same and it stuck.

1999-2000: Ranges exit, tour debut and Right Now

Range dropped out in 1999 due to artistic differences and was replaced by Natasha Hamilton that same year.

Atomic Kitten made it into the top ten of the UK singles chart with their debut single Right Now - released at the end of November 1999. Their second single See Ya followed in March 2000 and was an even bigger triumph, reaching number six. Following this commercial attention-getter, they made their touring debut in Asia later that year, releasing a cover version of the 1962 Little Eva classic The Locomotion for the British-US fantasy children's film Thomas, the Fantastic Locomotive, released that year.

Atomic Kitten's debut album - also titled Right Now - was released in the UK on 23 October 2000. In Europe, however, this was unsuccessful on first release, reaching only #39 in the UK album charts. As a result, there were no plans to focus on the global market. Their record label, Innocent Records, even considered dropping them due to their limited achievements, but were persuaded to let the band release another single.

2001: Turning point, international breakthrough, Katona's first exit and Frost's entry

Atomic Kitten started a new attempt in early 2001 with the single Whole Again. At this moment their career took a 180-degree turn, because with this mega-single they landed their first number one hit in their home country. In the spring of 2001, they then also achieved their breakthrough in Germany and Austria, where they even managed to stay at the top for six weeks.

Whole Again is the most successful release of their career with over 1.1 million units sold, represents their signature song, was nominated twice for the Ivor Novello Award - a British award for songwriters and composers - and was covered by their founding fathers in 2008.

Katona was originally featured in the song and video for Whole Again - her vocals were also featured in Hippy and Get Real - but a few days before the single's release, she left the band due to her pregnancy. Former Precious member Jenny Frost replaced her in the line-up and the video for the single was reshot; a higher-budgeted US version of the video - shot on the streets of downtown Los Angeles - was also released. The Katona-Frost change led to the decision to partially re-record and re-release their debut album, which went on to hit number one in the UK in August 2001, going double platinum there, and reaching the top ten in numerous European countries, including Germany. Compared to later albums, it received quite positive reviews, mainly for its revival of 1980s New Wave stylistic elements. As a result, the most successful single release alongside Whole Again was the 1989 Bangles cover Eternal Flame. It was their second number one hit in their home country. The third single You Are, however, did not reach a noteworthy chart position in Germany with number 61.

2002: Career peak, separation from their founders and Feels So Good

In April 2002, Hamilton announced her first pregnancy, but still appeared in the video for The Tide Is High (Get the Feeling) and the 2002 tour, and eventually gave birth to a son on August 24, 2002.

On 3 June 2002, Atomic Kitten performed at the Party at the Palace concert held in the gardens of Buckingham Palace in honour of the 50th anniversary of Elizabeth II's accession to the throne. Dressed all in white, they performed the song Dancing in the Street and, together with US musician Brian Wilson and Spice Girls member Emma Bunton, the song Good Vibrations.

Following the success of the Right Now relaunch, the second studio album Feels So Good was recorded. However, the songwriting and production arrangement with McCluskey and Kershaw was a growing source of tension within the group, ultimately causing Atomic Kitten to part ways with the duo during the album's recording in mid-2002. McCluskey spoke of disagreements between himself and the record label, whose "formula" called for more and more "Whole Again". He was essentially fired and legally banned from contacting the band. After this inglorious discord, he got out of the quote "very dirty" business of "manufactured pop". The split from their two creators did nothing to dampen Atomic Kitten's success, however; the band members were now increasingly involved in composing their own songs.

Finally, in September 2002, Feels So Good, the first full original album with band member Frost, was released. The most successful single was a remake of the Paragons' 1967 reggae classic The Tide Is High, which they released under the title The Tide Is High (Get the Feeling). The song stormed the British, German and Oceanic charts again after Whole Again and Eternal Flame.

2003: Far East Tour, US Marketing and Ladies Night

In January and February 2003, Atomic Kitten toured Southeast Asia, performing in Singapore, Thailand and South Korea, among other places.

In April 2003, Atomic Kitten released the US market-only, self-titled compilation album Atomic Kitten. This contained songs from their first two studio albums, but only reached #102 on the US Billboard charts, despite The Tide Is High (Get the Feeling) appearing on the soundtrack album of the Walt Disney Pictures-produced US teen comedy film Popstar in a Roundabout Way (2003). Due to this, they continued to focus exclusively on the European, Asian, Oceanic and South African markets.

Before Atomic Kitten recorded their third studio album, Kool & the Gang approached the band about collaborating on their duets album The Hits: Reloaded. They wanted to record an updated version of their hit Ladies Night and were looking for a girl group to sing the lyrics for it. Atomic Kitten liked the idea and inquired if they could use it for their next album, which was later christened Ladies Night in honor of this collaboration. Atomic Kitten thus spent late 2002 and early 2003 in the studio recording their final studio album to date. Up to this point, they relied mostly on songwriters, although they had occasionally co-written songs that were featured on their albums. During the album recording process, they decided to be directly involved in the writing of eight of the fifteen songs. Ladies Night was released on 10 November 2003, peaking at number five in the UK album charts and going platinum for selling over 300,000 copies. However, it also received some scathing reviews, not least for moving ever closer to mainstream pop, straying somewhat from their old style and once again spawning a cover version in the form of the title track. With the further singles If You Come to Me and Someone like Me they managed further top ten successes in their home country.

2004: Promotion tour, greatest hits album and time out

Early 2004 saw a tour in support of Ladies Night and the upcoming release of their compilation album The Greatest Hits. Shortly before the start of the tour, Atomic Kitten announced that they would be taking an extended break after its completion. The reason for this was Hamilton's decision to leave Atomic Kitten, as she suffered postpartum depression after the birth of her son, consequently wanted more time for him and was thus overwhelmed with the pressure of touring as a young mother, which ultimately led to the band's temporary split, as McClarnon and Frost did not want to replace Hamilton.

Atomic Kitten released the double A-single Someone like Me / Right Now 2004 as a kind of "farewell present" for their fans in March 2004 and finally their greatest hits album the following month.

2005-2008: Short reunions for charity projects

However, on Valentine's Day 2005, they already had a brief reunion as part of the newly-recorded benefit single Cradle 2005, which was a reissue of the song of the same name from their debut album, sold 35,000 copies worldwide, and all proceeds went to the World Vision organization. In 2005, their single (I Wanna Be) Like Other Girls was featured on the soundtrack album of the Walt Disney Studios-produced US animated film Mulan 2. On August 28, 2005, they performed in Krakow for the Coca-Cola SoundWave Festival. Also in 2005, the two compilation albums The Collection and Access All Areas: Remixed and B-Sides were released.

On 16 June 2006, a cover version of the 1990s Farm hit All Together Now was released, entitled All Together Now (Strong Together). The song was recorded during the 2006 World Cup in Germany with World Cup mascot Goleo VI, but was only released in German-speaking countries. It reached the Top 20 in Germany and all proceeds went to the organization SOS-Kinderdorf. On 31 December 2006, they performed in Hong Kong at the Nokia New Year's Eve Music Festival.

In 2007, the compilation album Essential was released.

On January 19, 2008, another short-lived reunion occurred. Atomic Kitten sang the Cilla Black classic Anyone Who Had a Heart and the songs Whole Again and The Tide Is High (Get the Feeling) at Liverpool's then newly built Echo Arena. The concert, organised by the Number One Project, was prompted by Liverpool's celebrations as European Capital of Culture 2008 and the fact that Liverpool artists have had 56 number one hits in the UK singles charts to date, making the UK's third largest city on the Mersey the epicentre of pop worldwide. On 12 July 2008, they performed at the King's Lynn Festival.

2012: Reunion plans and related Frost Katona clinch

In February 2012, the compilation album The Essential Collection was released, containing her greatest hits - including remixes and B-sides - but failed to chart.

On March 4, 2012, Hamilton gave an interview to the Daily Star, announcing the Atomic Kittens reunion. According to her, a few concerts were planned for the summer of 2012. She also mentioned hopes of taking part in the Diamond Jubilee Concert, a major BBC concert held in honour of Elizabeth II's 60th anniversary on the throne outside Buckingham Palace on 4 June 2012. She did not comment on a possible new album. In the meantime, there was also speculation that Atomic Kitten would represent the United Kingdom at the 2012 Eurovision Song Contest in Azerbaijan, which they denied. On 3 April 2012, it was reported that Frost would not join the reunion if Katona was also part of the line-up. Subsequently, on April 9, 2012, it was reported that Hamilton would rule out a reunion as long as the Frost-Katona differences remained. In a report in the Daily Mail published on 1 May 2012, Frost denied any reunion plans.

2013: Reunion of the second line-up for the TV documentary The Big Reunion

Eventually, nevertheless, the reunion took place in early 2013 in the documentary The Big Reunion, broadcast by the British television channel ITV2. The decision to do so was made on October 18, 2012, with Frost not participating due to her pregnancy and Katona returning to the band instead. The show - which featured Atomic Kitten along with pop bands 911, Blue, B*Witched, Five, Honeyz and Liberty X, who also reunited - looked at what became of the bands successful late 1990s and early 2000s. The documentary followed them as they prepared for their big comeback concert at London's Hammersmith Apollo on 26 February 2013. However, as this sold out in minutes, there was speculation as to whether the show could be extended into a full arena tour of the UK due to high demand. This was confirmed on 11 February 2013 and scheduled for 3-14 May 2013. The bands also later announced that the tour had been extended to include two more shows in Dublin and Belfast in mid-May 2013, ultimately making it 14 dates. From 11 to 15 December 2013, the bands performed at five more concerts within England on the Big Reunion Christmas Party Tour.

On 17 February 2013, Atomic Kitten appeared on the British talk show The Alan Titchmarsh Show, with Katona announcing that the band had signed a deal to release their own perfume. Hamilton also announced that they were working on a comeback single and that there was a possibility of a new album. On March 28, 2013, Hamilton expressed that Frost would be welcome to make a comeback at any time.

2014-2015: Canceled arena tour, planning for a new studio album and canceled world tour.

In April 2014, an arena tour called Another Time Another Place - in which Atomic Kitten would join fellow All Saints and boy band East 17 in eight shows across England, Scotland and Wales - was announced and shortly after cancelled due to "unforeseen circumstances".

In November 2014, Katona announced that Atomic Kitten would release a new album in 2015, reviving their original "cheesy pop sound", which they would tour "around the world". However, the planned world tour called 15: The Greatest Hits Tour - which would have included fourteen concerts in England, Scotland and Germany - was cancelled in mid-May 2015 with no reason given.

In November 2015, the compilation album Whole Again: The Best Of was released, though it failed to chart.

2016-2017: Heaton's temporary jump-in, down-under tour, and Katona's final exit.

In August 2016, Liberty X member Michelle Heaton confirmed on British talk show Loose Women that she was joining Atomic Kitten as a temporary member to fill in for McClarnon on international gigs involving long-haul flights, as she suffers from a fear of flying.

On November 12, 2016, they performed in East Prawle at the live music pub Pigs Nose Inn.

In February 2017, they toured Australia and New Zealand with B*Witched, East 17, Liberty X and S Club 3, with Heaton filling in for McClarnon.

In November 2017, Katona announced her permanent exit from Atomic Kitten. Prior to this, she had disparagingly insulted Hamilton at a drag queen contest in a Manchester nightclub.

Since 2018: McClarnon and Hamilton as a duo

Following Katona's departure, McClarnon and Hamilton now run Atomic Kitten as a pair.

They performed in South Shields on 29 July 2018 for the South Tyneside Festival and at a 90s revival festival at the Velodrom in Berlin on 23 February 2019.

On June 10, 2020, Hamilton, McClarnon, and for this, Frost, participated in an online interview as part of Life Stories - The Interview Series, hosted by therapist Lisa Johnson and Hamilton herself. The band discussed their time together and the impact that being in a girl group had on their individual mental health.

In mid-August 2020, they recorded a performance in Warsaw on the TVP2 game show Jaka to melodia? - the Polish equivalent of the former US game show Name That Tune - which aired on 3 October 2020.

On 20 June 2021 they performed in Turvey at the Estate Festival.

Second line-up: McClarnon, Katona and Hamilton at Bournemouth (2013)


Michelle Heaton filled in temporarily for McClarnon from 2016 to 2017.


Third Line-Up: McClarnon, Frost and Hamiltonin Krakow (2005)

Timeline: Band members