3rd Party was an American three-member

dance-pop Dance-pop is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit ra ...

group that released one album in 1997. They are best known for their ''Billboard'' Hot 100 charting dance hits "Can U Feel It" and "Love Is Alive".

Background

Lead singer Maria Christensen was a songwriter before the band, singing since the age of 5 and writing songs since she was 10 years old. She made her performing debut in 1988 as one half of the Latin

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duo Sequal. She has written songs for

Nana Mouskouri Ioanna "Nana" Mouskouri ( ; born 13 October 1934) is a Greek singer and politician. Over the span of her career, she has released an estimated 450 albums in at least thirteen languages, including Greek language, Greek, French language, French, ...

Eternal Eternal(s) or The Eternal may refer to: * Eternity, an infinite amount of time, or a timeless state * Immortality or eternal life * God, the supreme being, creator deity, and principal object of faith in monotheism Comics, film and television * ...

'N Sync NSYNC ( ; also stylized as *NSYNC or N Sync) was an American vocal group and pop boy band formed by Chris Kirkpatrick in Orlando, Florida, in 1995 and launched in Germany by BMG Ariola Munich. The group consists of Kirkpatrick, JC Chasez, Joey ...

, and

Celine Dion Céline Marie Claudette Dion (born 30 March 1968) is a Canadian singer. Referred to as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Power Ballads", Dion's powerful, technically skilled vocals and commercially successful works have had ...

.
"Maria Christensen Wishes You Happy Gay Pride!" - interview by Jed Ryan She had released a self-titled solo album in 1993. Backup singers Karmine Alers and Elaine Borja filled out the racially diverse group. The group formed in the wake of the mid-90s

movement, following such acts as the

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. The group released its album '' Alive'' in 1997. The album was recorded on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

,
CD Universe overview of ''Alive'' and produced by Rick Wake. Four of the album's songs were written by Christensen, and two singles were released from it. "Can U Feel It" ( #43[] Allmusic charts) was their highest-charting song. "Love is Alive" (Billboard Hot 100, #61) was a remake of the song by Gary Wright from his album ''The Dream Weaver''. The album also contained the song "

Waiting for Tonight "Waiting for Tonight" is a song written by Maria Christensen, Michael Garvin, and Phil Temple. It was originally recorded by Christensen's girl group 3rd Party for their debut studio album, '' Alive'' (1997). Two years after the group disbande ...

", which was covered by

Jennifer Lopez Jennifer Lynn Lopez (born July 24, 1969), also known by her nickname J.Lo, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, dancer and businesswoman. Lopez is regarded as one of the most influential entertainers of her time, credited with breaking ...

in 1999 for her debut album, ''

On the 6 ''On the 6'' is the debut studio album by American singer and actress Jennifer Lopez. It was released on June 1, 1999, by the Work Group. Lopez worked with several producers on the album, including Rodney Jerkins, Cory Rooney, Dan Shea and her ...

''. The remake charted at #8.

After the band

Maria Christensen

Maria Christensen independently released her second solo album, ''Beautiful Now'', in 2004. In contrast to 3rd Party's uptempo dance music, Christensen's solo music is more soulful and pensive, in the style of

Norah Jones Norah Jones ( ; born Geethali Shankar; March 30, 1979) is an American singer-songwriter and musician. She has won several awards for her music and, , has sold more than 53 million records worldwide. '' Billboard'' named her the top jazz artist of ...

. She sang the song "Someone to Someone" on the show "

Queer Eye for the Straight Guy ''Queer Eye'' is an American reality television series that premiered on the Bravo (American TV network), Bravo network in July 2003, initially broadcast as ''Queer Eye for the Straight Guy''. The series was created by executive producers David ...

". Song-writing proceeds from Lopez's remake of "Waiting for Tonight" allowed her the freedom to release her own album.

Karmine Alers

Karmine Alers was raised in

Spanish Harlem East Harlem, also known as Spanish Harlem, or , is a neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City, north of the Upper East Side and bounded by 96th Street to the south, Fifth Avenue to the west, and the East and Harlem Rivers to the east ...

and has been acting and performing since she was a teenager.
Karmine Alers' official Web site During college, she was a member of several bands.

CD Baby CD Baby, Inc. is a Portland, Oregon based online distributor of independent music. The company was described as an "anti-label" by its parent company's Chief Operating Officer Tracy Maddux. It was established in 1998 and offered distribution fo ...

: ''For You...'' After leaving 3rd Party, she auditioned for the musical ''

Rent Rent may refer to: Economics *Renting, an agreement where a payment is made for the temporary use of a good, service or property *Economic rent, any payment in excess of the cost of production *Rent-seeking, attempting to increase one's share of e ...

'' on

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in 2001. Like her older sister,

Yassmin Alers Yassmin Alers is an American film and stage actress. Early life and education Alers was born in New York City's Spanish Harlem as the middle child of a close-knit family of five children. She has a Bachelor of Science in Psychology. Career ...

, she took the role of Mimi. She released the solo album ''For You...'' in 2005, which was produced by Jimmy Greco. Like ''Beautiful Now'', it is also soulful and melodic, and showed no trace of Alers's 3rd Party past. A single, "It Matters to Me", was released with a music video. In 2015 she returned to Broadway in '' On Your Feet!'', and she has appeared in national tours of the same musicals."Karmine Alers"
Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved on October 25, 2022

References

{{Authority control American girl groups American dance music groups American Eurodance groups Musical groups established in 1997 Musical groups disestablished in 1997