M.O are an English girl group consisting of members Annie Ashcroft and Chanal Benjilali, and previously
Frankee Connolly
Francesca Rose Connolly (born 23 November 1989) is a singer from Helmshore, England. She was a member of the groups Mini Viva, who had a No. 7 hit with "Left My Heart in Tokyo", and M.O, with whom she had a No. 18 hit with "Who Do You Think Of?" ...
until her departure in June 2017 and Nadine Samuels until her departure in 2020. The group was formed in 2012 by the members themselves, after their previous groups
Mini Viva
Mini Viva were an English pop duo formed in 2008 by British songwriting and production team Xenomania. They were managed by 19 Entertainment and signed to Geffen Records, Geffen and Polydor Records. Consisting of Frankee Connolly and Britt Love ...
and Duchess had disbanded. Starting out on independent label Operator Records, they have been signed to
Polydor Records
Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...
since early 2016. On 19 October 2020, Nadine Samuels confirmed her departure from the group.
Career
Beginnings
Frankee Connolly was a part of Mini Viva until the duo's split in 2010, where as Nadine Samuels and Annie Ashcroft were both members of the girl group Duchess until 2012.
M.O was formed in late 2012, after Connolly had met Samuels and Ashcroft at music industry events.
M.O stands for
Modus Operandi
A ''modus operandi'' (often shortened to M.O.) is someone's habits of working, particularly in the context of business or criminal investigations, but also more generally. It is a Latin phrase, approximately translated as "mode (or manner) of op ...
, which is a Latin term for "a particular way to do something"
M.O's initial aim was to bring old school 90s music back, naming old school
TLC
TLC may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Television
* ''TLC'' (TV series), a 2002 British situational comedy television series that aired on BBC2
* TLC (TV network), formerly the Learning Channel, an American cable TV network
** TLC (Asia), an As ...
,
J.Lo,
Aaliyah
Aaliyah Dana Haughton (; January 16, 1979 – August 25, 2001) was an American singer and actress. She has been credited for helping to redefine contemporary R&B, pop and hip hop, earning her the nicknames the "Princess of R&B" and " ...
and,
All Saints as an inspiration amongst others.
[
M.O made their debut as a band with a remix of ]Brandy
Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured with ...
and Monica
Monica may refer to:
People
*Monica (actress) (born 1987), Indian film actress
*Monica (given name), a given name (including a list of people and characters with the name)
*Monica (singer) (born 1980), American R&B singer, songwriter, producer, ...
's " The Boy Is Mine" on the YouTube channel SB.TV
SB.TV Global Ltd, also known as SB.TV or SmokeyBarz, is a British music media company founded by Jamal Edwards and a small team of young people who work on web-based content. The platform was created on 2 November 2006, and its origins in urban m ...
in 2012. At this point they received positive feedback from the music industry and were championed by the likes of Ed Sheeran.
They followed up their debut on YouTube with their first promotional single "Wait Your Turn", which was followed by other releases in 2013, including "Ain't Got Time" and "Hot".
In early 2014, M.O announced that the Jess Glynne-penned track " For a Minute" would be released as their official debut single.[ It was released in April 2014 and entered the ]UK Indie Chart
The UK Independent Singles Chart and UK Independent Albums Chart are charts of the best-selling independent singles and albums, respectively, in the United Kingdom. Originally published in January 1980, and widely known as the indie chart, the rele ...
s at number 6. In May, the group joined Little Mix
Little Mix are a British girl group, composed of group members Leigh-Anne Pinnock, Jade Thirlwall, and Perrie Edwards. Jesy Nelson was originally part of the group before she left in 2020. After becoming the first group to win the British ver ...
as the main support act on their sold out Salute Tour
The Salute Tour was the second concert tour held by British girl group Little Mix, in support of their second studio album, ''Salute''. The tour began on 16 May 2014, in Birmingham, England, and ended on 27 July 2014 in Scarborough, North Yorksh ...
, and performed at numerous festivals in the UK, including Wireless festival. In August, they released their garage-influenced second single "Dance On My Own
"Dance On My Own" is a song by English recording trio M.O. It was released as a digital download on 22 August 2014 in the United Kingdom as the band's fifth single. Sampling the 2000s garage hit single "Flowers" by female duo Sweet Female Attitu ...
", which entered the UK Sales Chart at number 49. Also in 2014, the group was nominated for a MOBO Award in the Best Newcomer category.
In 2015, the single " Preach", which was co-written by Starsmith
Finlay Dow-Smith (born 8 July 1988), known professionally as Starsmith, is a British songwriter and producer. He co-wrote and produced "Good Thing" by Zedd and Kehlani, and "I'll Be There" by Jess Glynne which went to number one in the UK and ...
and Joel Compass, was released. The same year, they signed a record deal with Polydor Records
Polydor Records Ltd. is a German-British record label that operates as part of Universal Music Group. It has a close relationship with Universal's Interscope Geffen A&M Records label, which distributes Polydor's releases in the United States. ...
and released the promotional single "Love the Most", a collaboration with The HeavyTrackerz
The Heavytrackerz are a group of record producers, songwriters and instrumentalists from Walthamstow, East London. The group currently consists of Lord Teedot, G.Tank and RasEye. HeavyTrackerz are often recognized as producers of singles for Grime ...
. In 2016, M.O released the extended play
An extended play record, usually referred to as an EP, is a musical recording that contains more tracks than a single but fewer than an album or LP record. s ''Good Friends'' and '' Who Do You Think Of?'', the latter of which spawned a single of the same name. "Who Do You Think Of?" reached the top twenty of the UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
, becoming their highest-charting single yet. The song was certified silver and sold over 375,000 copies. In July 2016, it was announced that the band signed a US deal with Interscope Records
Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. Founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Atlantic Records of Warner Mus ...
. Their next single, " Not in Love", featured rapper Kent Jones and was released in December 2016, peaking just outside the top 40 at No. 42.
On 26 June 2020, the group released the EP ''Modus Operandi'', featuring tracks such as "Who Do You Think Of", "Ex at the Party" and "Going Out of My Way" featuring Mr Eazi.
Line-up changes
After a quiet 18 months, including the departure of Connolly, the group made a comeback with their new single "Bad Vibe", featuring Lotto Boyzz and Mr Eazi
Oluwatosin Ajibade (born 19 July 1991), better known by his stage name Mr Eazi, is a Nigerian-born, Ghana-based singer. He is a pioneer of Banku music, a fusion of sound he describes as a mixture of Ghanaian highlife and Nigerian chord progressio ...
. It peaked at number 18 on the UK Singles Chart.
On 26 November 2018, Nadine Samuels was imprisoned for eight months for causing death by careless driving.
During 2020, founding member Nadine Samuels left the group.
Final single & split
In October 2021, M.O released their first single since the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, ‘U No’ with producer collective Jodapac and British rapper French the Kid
French the Kid is a British rapper and singer. Born in Harold Hill, his family moved to Australia and France while he was a child. He moved back to the UK in his teens, beginning to release freestyles on Instagram in 2018.
Early life
French the ...
.
In September 2022, band member Chanal Benjilali revealed via Instagram
Instagram is a photo and video sharing social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. The app allows users to upload media that can be edited with filters and organized by hashtags and geographical tagging. Posts can ...
Q&A that the group had been inactive for a while after the release of U No and that it was very unlikely that fans can expect new music anytime soon.
Discography
Extended plays
Singles
As lead artists
As featured artists
Promotional singles
Awards and nominations
Notes
References
{{authority control
British contemporary R&B musical groups
English girl groups
English vocal groups
Musical groups established in 2012
Musical groups from London
Polydor Records artists
Interscope Records artists