Katrina and the Waves were a British rock band formed in Cambridge in 1981, widely known for their 1985 hit "Walking on Sunshine".

Mama's Cookin' proceeded to gig steadily in England over the next two years, specialising in covers of songs by American acts such as Heart, Foreigner, Linda Ronstadt and ZZ Top.

[1] Rew was still the primary songwriter,[1] but de la Cruz was also responsible for a few songs, including the Canadian airplay hit "Mexico".

Also in 1984, the band received their first ever airplay on BBC Radio 1 when DJ Richard Skinner played the track "Que te quiero",[4] whilst their song "Going Down to Liverpool" was covered by the Bangles, which added to their profile.

The Katrina and the Waves album was a substantial critical and commercial success, and the group had a worldwide hit with the song "Walking on Sunshine," (no.

A Grammy Award nomination for Best New Artist followed, as did constant touring, both of which helped to spur moderate sales of new releases.

A follow-up single to "Walking on Sunshine" called "Do You Want Crying" (written by de la Cruz) also became a top 40 US hit, reaching no.

Drummer Cooper, interviewed some years later, claimed "It was (a) mistake when we started taking over from Kimberley in the musical contribution side.

16 in the US (credited to Leskanich/Rew), but subsequent singles, including "Rock 'n' Roll Girl", failed to chart, and the band once again were dropped from their label.

Throughout the 1990s, Katrina and the Waves recorded fairly steadily, though most releases were available only in continental Europe and/or Canada, and they issued no charting singles.

Despite their return to the public eye in the UK, Katrina and the Waves were not able to follow up "Love Shine a Light" with another hit, and Leskanich left the group in 1998 after several disagreements within the band.

[12] A free download of one of the tracks from Kimberley Rew's solo album The Bible of Bop was given away in March 2010 from the band's website.

[13] In June 2011, the group threatened legal action against U.S. presidential candidate Michele Bachmann for playing their music on her campaign trail.

A statement on the group's official website reads: "Katrina and the Waves would like it to be known that they do not endorse the use of "Walking on Sunshine" by Michele Bachmann and have instructed their lawyers accordingly."

[14] In July 2013, Leskanich performed at the San Fermín festival in Spain for the penultimate gig of the season on Plaza del Castillo.