Five (stylised as 5ive) are an English boy band formed in 1997 consisting of members Sean Conlon, Ritchie Neville, and Scott Robinson.
The group debuted as a five-piece consisting of Robinson, Neville, Conlon, as well as previous members Abz Love and Jason "J" Brown.
Their subsequent single, "When the Lights Go Out", became an international hit, peaking at number 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 in the United States, 4 in the UK, and within the top ten of six further countries.
Their debut album, Five (1998), sold over 4 million copies worldwide and produced 3 additional UK top 3 singles: "Got the Feelin'", "Everybody Get Up", and "It's the Things You Do".
In 1997, an advertisement was placed in the UK performing arts newspaper The Stage, asking for young male singers/dancers to audition for a boy band-style group with "attitude and edge".
Bob and Chris Herbert of Heart Management, the two men who had earlier created the Spice Girls, thought the time was right for a male group.
The auditions resulted in a provisional casting of nine members: Ritchie Neville, Scott Robinson, Sean Conlon, Jason "J" Brown, Richard Breen (now better known as Abz Love), and Peter Cheshire, Paul Taylor, Anthony Baker (rapper) and Ric Hershon.
Baker made it into the band originally, but doubt was cast over his rapping style as his North East accent came through.
Five then went on an eight-day tour to promote their upcoming album, appearing in a concert special for the Disney Channel with Irish girl group B*Witched, in Times Square in New York City and on MTV's TRL.
The group embarked upon a U.S. tour with the American boy band NSYNC, but soon after pulled out due to exhaustion, flying back to England to rest and start work on a new album.
A significant element in Five's popularity was their resemblance to groups such as New Kids on the Block, East 17, the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC in their uptempo musical style and 'street' image, in contrast to Take That, Boyzone, and 98 Degrees, who at the time were primarily known for their ballads.
[6] In August 1999, the first single of their second album, Invincible, "If Ya Gettin' Down", was released and became a major hit worldwide but yet again failed to go to number 1 in their home country, kept out of the top spot by Ricky Martin.
Finally, in October 1999, after three consecutive number-two peaks, "Keep On Movin'" became their first UK number 1, as well as their biggest selling single to date.
That night Five won their first BRIT Award, as "Best Pop Act", and their cover of the Queen song went on to become their second number 1 in the UK in July 2000.
The first half of 2000 found Five on a successful world tour, performing concerts in the UK, Europe, Russia, Australasia and—as a foursome—South America, after Neville contracted chickenpox and had to be flown back to England.
When it was time to begin filming the video for their first single off the album, however, Conlon was unable to appear as he was suffering from a mental breakdown from stress caused by being part of the group.
[8] The "Let's Dance" video was released with a life-size cardboard cut-out standing in for the singer, and rumours that he had in fact left the band had to be quashed.
The remaining three members, Brown, Love and Neville pressed on with heavy promotion of the group's third album and the "Let's Dance" single.
Whilst performing at a concert in Belgium in July, Neville tore the tendons in his left foot, putting a halt to all promotion and prompting the group to have a few meetings to re-think their options and future.
[9] On 27 September 2001, after a month of serious meetings with record management, the band announced on MTV Select that it would split after releasing a compilation later that year.
[citation needed] After a venue change due to a shooting at The Scala, the conference was moved to the Bar Academy Islington.
Five recorded new material for what was to be their fourth studio album, working with Guy Chambers, Swedish producer/songwriter Anders Bagge, and French DJs Trak Invaders.
[11] By January 2007, Five had completed half of their album and were looking to be signed to a record label with new manager, Richard Beck, who also secured an MTV documentary series titled Five - The Revive.
[26] On 4 June 2021, after a series of hints and posts counting down, Five unveiled a new logo and cover artwork for "Keep On Movin (21 Remix)" along with a clip, which they announced was available for pre-order on Apple Music.
[28] On 12 September 2021 during the Cardiff show of The Boys Are Back Tour, they debuted a live rendition of a ballad called "Reset", which was released alongside the single "Warm Light" on 1 October 2021.