2Be3 was a French

boy band A boy band is a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their Teenage, teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform love songs marketed towards girls and young women. Many boy bands ...

that was active from 1996 to 2001.

History

2Be3 was formed in 1996 and comprised three childhood friends from

Longjumeau Longjumeau () is a Communes of France, commune in the Essonne department, France. It is located south from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. Inhabitants of Longjumeau are known as ''Longjumellois'' () in French. History Longjumeau Party Sch ...

(a suburb of Paris):

Filip Nikolic Filip Nikolic (Serbian: Филип Николић, ''Filip Nikolić''; 1 September 1974 – 16 September 2009) was a French-Serbian actor and singer, best known as the lead of the French band 2Be3. Born at Saint-Ouen, Seine-Saint-Denis, he was ra ...

, Adel Kachermi and Frank Delay. Inspired by English bands like

Take That Take That are an English pop group formed in Manchester in 1990. The group currently consists of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen. The original line-up also featured Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Barlow is the group's lead singer ...

and Worlds Apart, the group produced 3 studio albums and various compilations before disbanding in 2001. The name 2Be3 was a

pun A pun, also known as a paronomasia in the context of linguistics, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from t ...

on the English language phrases ''to be free'' (in French, "être libre") and ''to be three'' ("être trois"). Hence the band's name was pronounced in English ("Two Be Three") rather than French ("Deux Be Trois"). Hugely popular in France, despite attempts to break the American and British markets (via an English-language single, ''Excuse My French'', produced in Miami by

Desmond Child John Charles Barrett (born October 28, 1953), known professionally as Desmond Child, is an American songwriter and record producer. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2008. He has been nominated for four Grammy Awards, a Primet ...

), their only significant chart success occurred in their home nation. In 1997 they appeared in their own television series (called ''Pour être libre'') which ran for 40 episodes on

TF1 TF1 (; standing for ''Télévision Française 1'') is a French commercial television network owned by TF1 Group, controlled by the Bouygues conglomerate. TF1's average market share of 24% makes it the most popular domestic network. TF1 is part ...

, and several videos were released including a live concert from the

Bercy Bercy () is a neighbourhood in the 12th arrondissement of Paris, France, the city's 47th administrative neighbourhood. History Some of the oldest vestiges of human occupation in Paris were found on the territory of Bercy, dating from the late N ...

arena in Paris. Their song "Toujours là pour toi" is a French cover of "

Never Gonna Give You Up "Never Gonna Give You Up" is a pop song by English singer Rick Astley, released on 27 July 1987. The song is widely regarded as Astley's most popular, as well as his List of signature songs, signature song, and it is often played at the end o ...

", originally sung by

Rick Astley Richard Paul Astley (born 6 February 1966) is an English singer, radio DJ and podcaster. He gained fame through his association with the production trio Stock Aitken Waterman, releasing the 1987 album ''Whenever You Need Somebody'', which sol ...

. During year 2000, they went on a promotional tour in France, Germany, England, Switzerland, Belgium and Yugoslavia. In 2001, they left for Asia for a tour of several months and brought out the album ''Excuse My French'', which was a big success there.

Post-Breakup

After disbanding, Filip Nikolic had a role in the film ''

Simon Sez ''Simon Sez'' is a 1999 action film starring Dennis Rodman, Dane Cook, and John Pinette. The film was directed by Kevin Alyn Elders, and the score was composed by Brian Tyler. The film received negative reviews and grossed $292,152. Premise ...

'' with

Dennis Rodman Dennis Keith Rodman (born May 13, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player. Renowned for his defensive and rebounding abilities, his biography on the official NBA website states that he is "arguably the best rebounding forw ...

and appeared in the French version of '' I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!'' in 2006. Nikolic later had a television career as a comedian. From 2002 to 2007 he had a recurring role as Yann Boldec in the French series ''Navarro'' and, from 2007 to 2009, in the spin-off series ''Brigade Navarro''. Filip was reportedly preparing a solo album when he died of a heart attack on 16 September 2009. He was 35 years old.

History

Post-Breakup

Discography

Albums

Singles

Videos

Related Artists

References