Atomic Kitten were an English girl group formed in Liverpool in 1998, whose original lineup comprised Kerry Katona, Liz McClarnon, and Natasha Hamilton.

The group was founded by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) members Andy McCluskey and Stuart Kershaw, who served as principal songwriters during Atomic Kitten's early years.

[1] The group re-released their debut album, with some tracks re-recorded with Frost's vocals: it peaked at number one in the UK and was certified double platinum after selling over 600,000 copies.

[4] After making sporadic appearances from 2005 to 2008, it was announced that McClarnon, Hamilton, and Katona would reunite for the ITV2 series The Big Reunion, alongside five other pop groups of their time: B*Witched, Five, Liberty X, Honeyz and 911.

The idea of Atomic Kitten was first conceived in 1998 by English musician Andy McCluskey, best known as the frontman of new wave group Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD).

Karl Bartos of Kraftwerk suggested he create a new band as a vehicle for his songs following the 1996 dissolution of OMD,[7] who had been rendered unfashionable by the prevalence of grunge and indie rock.

[8][9] McCluskey founded Atomic Kitten alongside fellow OMD member Stuart Kershaw, and the pair would serve as principal songwriters on the group's studio recordings in the late 1990s and early 2000s.

[2] Following this initial success, Atomic Kitten performed an Asian tour and achieved their first number-one hit in Asia with "Cradle".

The album's Japanese edition included demo versions of "Cradle", "I Want Your Love" (titled "All the Right Things"), "Whole Again" (which has only Kerry Katona speaking all the verses in the song, while Natasha Hamilton and Liz McClarnon sing the chorus), and a rare remix of "Right Now".

[2] There were no initial plans to focus on the global market and Atomic Kitten's label, Innocent Records, was even considering dropping them because of their limited success.

[15] The song and video for "Whole Again" originally featured Katona (her vocals were also in "Hippy" and "Get Real"), but several days before the single's release, she left because of her pregnancy.

The Katona–Frost switch led to the decision to partially re-record and re-release the Right Now album which then went to number one in the UK in August 2001, and was certified double Platinum.

[17][18] Atomic Kitten's first album was repackaged with 3 brand-new tracks: "Eternal Flame", "Tomorrow & Tonight", and "You Are", and includes vocals from Frost in "Right Now", "Whole Again", "Hippy", and a re-recorded version of "Bye Now".

Kool & the Gang wanted to record an updated version of their hit "Ladies Night" and were looking for a girl group to sing the lyrics.

[27] The tour's final concert was released on DVD under the title The Greatest Hits Live at Wembley Arena on 19 April 2004.

Also to mark the event, in the same month the group released a cover of "Anyone Who Had a Heart", which peaked at number 78 on the UK Singles Chart.

[33] However, on 18 October 2012, it was announced that the 1999 line-up of Atomic Kitten (McClarnon, Katona, and Hamilton) would reunite for an ITV2 series, The Big Reunion, along with five other pop groups of their time: 911, Honeyz, B*Witched, Five and Liberty X.

[35] The groups in The Big Reunion, including Atomic Kitten, were originally supposed to perform a one-off comeback concert at the Hammersmith Apollo in London.

It was confirmed on 11 February that due to high ticket demands and the popularity of the series, a UK arena tour would take place from 3 to 14 May 2013.

[38] Due to the massive success of The Big Reunion, it was announced that the reunited groups would also be going on a "Christmas party tour" in December 2013.

[40] On 17 February 2013, Atomic Kitten made an appearance on The Alan Titchmarsh Show in which Katona announced that the group had signed a deal to release their own perfume fragrance.

[47] On 12 November 2016, Katona, Hamilton, and McClarnon performed at the Pigs Nose Inn, a small live music venue in South Devon known for attracting high-profile acts.

[48] Atomic Kitten toured Australia and New Zealand alongside B*Witched, S Club 3, East 17 and Liberty X in February 2017 with Heaton once again filling in for McClarnon.

[53][54] On 6 July 2021, the group released a remake of "Whole Again" in support of England at UEFA Euro 2020, entitled "Southgate You're the One (Football's Coming Home Again)".

[55] They said: "It's been a whirlwind couple of days, but we are super excited and grateful to be able to contribute to the awesome energy and patriotism that is filling the England streets with this version of Whole Again.

On 11 October 2024, Hamilton announced via her Instagram account that she would be stepping down as a member of the group after a final performance two days later to concentrate on her solo career.