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Amelle Sousa Berrabah (born 22 April 1984), also known as Amelle, is a British singer and rapper. She is best known for being a former member of the girl group the
Sugababes The Sugababes are an English girl group composed of Mutya Buena, Keisha Buchanan, and Siobhán Donaghy. The lineup changed three times before returning to the original lineup in 2011. Formed in 1998 by Ron Tom, the manager of All Saints, ...
, replacing founding member
Mutya Buena Rosa Isabel Mutya Buena (; born 21 May 1985) is an English singer and songwriter who rose to fame as a member of girl group Sugababes. With the Sugababes, Buena had four UK number-one singles, an additional six top-ten hits and three multi-plati ...
, who left the group in December 2005. She achieved a solo number one single in 2009 when she collaborated with
Tinchy Stryder Kwasi Esono Danquah III ( ; born 14 September 1986), better known by his stage name Tinchy Stryder, is a British rapper, singer, songwriter, entrepreneur and investor. Stryder has released three solo studio albums, '' Star in the Hood'' (2007 ...
on their single "
Never Leave You "Never Leave You" is a song by British rapper Tinchy Stryder, released as the fourth single from his second studio album, '' Catch 22'' as a digital download on 2 August 2009 and then as a CD single on 3 August 2009. The song was written by Str ...
", which made her the only member of the Sugababes to achieve a number-one single outside of the group.


Early life

Amelle Sousa Berrabah was born on 22 April 1984 in
Aldershot Aldershot ( ) is a town in the Rushmoor district, Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme north-east corner of the county, south-west of London. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Farnborough/Aldershot built-up are ...
, Hampshire to
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
Moroccan parents. She has four sisters, younger sister Samiya, older sisters Laila, Zakiya and Nora and a brother, Khaled. Her family owned a
kebab Kebab ( , ), kebap, kabob (alternative North American spelling), kebob, or kabab (Kashmiri spelling) is a variety of roasted meat dishes that originated in the Middle East. Kebabs consist of cut up ground meat, sometimes with vegetables an ...
shop in Aldershot. Berrabah's father died of cancer in 2002. Berrabah attended The Connaught School in Aldershot and the
Academy of Contemporary Music The Academy of Contemporary Music (ACM) is a music academy in with campuses in Guildford, Surrey, Birmingham, and London, England providing contemporary music-based courses. The school of music has a focus on rock, pop music, electronic da ...
in
Guildford Guildford () is a town in west Surrey, England, around south-west of central London. As of the 2011 census, the town has a population of about 77,000 and is the seat of the wider Borough of Guildford, which had around inhabitants in . The nam ...
, the latter on the merit of a scholarship. It was then that she met her managers and formed the group Boo2, with her sister, Samiya and began looking for record contract opportunities. She won ''
Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British record chart television programme, made by the BBC and broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show. For most of its histo ...
'' magazine's ''Star Search'' in 2003 that gave her the chance to be the lead singer of a new group and had performed at
Party in the Park Party in the Park is the generic name given to music concerts organised by various radio stations and local authorities and groups in the United Kingdom, typically in large parks during the summer, however it is also used to refer to a family or ...
as well.


Career


2006–2008: Success with the Sugababes

Following
Mutya Buena Rosa Isabel Mutya Buena (; born 21 May 1985) is an English singer and songwriter who rose to fame as a member of girl group Sugababes. With the Sugababes, Buena had four UK number-one singles, an additional six top-ten hits and three multi-plati ...
's departure from Sugababes, Berrabah was brought in as a replacement by the group's management. Their manager had seen Berrabah perform at an American showcase a few years prior in 2003 and Berrabah had impressed him. As soon as Buena left, he gave Berrabah a call about the opportunity and got her to record three songs to audition for remaining members
Keisha Buchanan Keisha Kerreece Fayeanne Buchanan (; born 30 September 1984) is an English singer and songwriter and a founding member of the girl group Sugababes alongside Mutya Buena and Siobhán Donaghy. With Sugababes, she has had six number-one singles and ...
and
Heidi Range Heidi India Partakis (' Range; born 23 May 1983) is an English singer and songwriter, best known as a former member of the girl group Sugababes. She was an original member of girl group Atomic Kitten between 1998 and 1999, however she left the g ...
. They liked the demos and Berrabah was then announced as the newest member of the trio. The first single to feature Berrabah's vocals, " Red Dress", entered the UK Singles Chart at number four. ''
Taller in More Ways ''Taller in More Ways'' is the fourth studio album by British girl group Sugababes, released by Island Records on 10 October 2005. It was primarily produced by Dallas Austin and Jony Rockstar, with additional production from Cameron McVey, Xen ...
'' was re-released in early 2006 with re-recorded vocals by Berrabah. Because of the hastiness of the replacement, she could only re-record vocals for three of the tracks on the album. She also contributed the song, "Now You're Gone" to the new track listing. They performed the 2007
Comic Relief Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1986 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make t ...
single with fellow girl band,
Girls Aloud Girls Aloud are a British-Irish pop music, pop girl group that was created through the ITV (TV network), ITV talent show ''Popstars: The Rivals'' in 2002. The line up consisted of members Cheryl (singer), Cheryl, Nadine Coyle, Sarah Harding, N ...
, "
Walk This Way "Walk This Way" is a song by the American rock band Aerosmith. Written by Steven Tyler and Joe Perry, the song was originally released as the second single from the album '' Toys in the Attic'' (1975). It peaked at number 10 on the ''Billboa ...
", which went to number one. On 28 April 2007, Berrabah was arrested over allegations that she had assaulted a girl on the dancefloor in a club. No charges were brought. The first single from their album ''
Change Change, Changed or Changing may refer to the below. Other forms are listed at Alteration * Impermanence, a difference in a state of affairs at different points in time * Menopause, also referred to as "the change", the permanent cessation of t ...
'', the
Dr. Luke Łukasz Sebastian Gottwald (born September 26, 1973), known professionally as Dr. Luke, Tyson Trax, and Made in China, is an American musician, songwriter, and record producer. He began his professional music career as the Saturday Night Live ...
-produced "
About You Now "About You Now" is a song by British girl group Sugababes from their fifth studio album, ''Change'' (2007). Written and produced by Dr. Luke along with Cathy Dennis and Steven Wolf, it was released on 24 September 2007 by Island Records as the l ...
", topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks. In October 2007, ''Change'' became the group's second
UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...
number one, giving the group the top position on the singles and albums charts simultaneously. Berrabah was credited with co-writing five songs on the album. Berrabah was arrested again on 10 January 2008 on suspicion of causing criminal damage and a public order offence. The arrest was made in connection with an alleged attack on a car in her hometown of Aldershot on 9 January 2008. The charges were quickly dropped when it was revealed that she was not even in town at the time. Despite announcing a break after the Change tour, the group quickly began working on ''
Catfights and Spotlights ''Catfights and Spotlights'' is the sixth studio album by British girl group Sugababes, released by Island Records on 17 October 2008. Produced primarily by Klas Åhlund, Steve Booker and Orson, the album also features additional contribution ...
'', which was released in late 2008 and became their lowest charting album at the time.


2009–2011: Solo success and group turmoil

After the commercial disappointment of ''Catfights and Spotlights'', the group began working on the album ''
Sweet 7 ''Sweet 7'' is the seventh studio album by British girl group Sugababes, released on 5 March 2010 by Island Records. Production for the album began in April 2009. ''Sweet 7'' is the only Sugababes album to feature Eurovision Song Contest 2009 ...
'', signing with
Roc Nation Roc Nation is an American entertainment company founded by Jay-Z in 2008. Headquartered in New York City, the company is a successor to his previous Roc-A-Fella Records label, with additional offices in Los Angeles and London. It serves as a re ...
and working with their in-house producers in the US. Around this time, Berrabah also featured on "Never Leave You" by Tinchy Stryder in 2009, the single debuted at number one in the UK. The first single, "
Get Sexy "Get Sexy" is a song by British girl group Sugababes, taken from their seventh studio album, ''Sweet 7'' (2010). It was written by Fred Fairbrass, Richard Fairbrass, Rob Manzoli, Philip Lawrence, Ari Levine, Bruno Mars and produced by the la ...
", from ''Sweet 7'' was released soon after and reached number 2 on the UK charts. Prior to shooting the video for the second single,
RedOne Nadir Khayat (, Latn, ar, Nādir Ḵayyāṭ; born 9 April 1972), also known as RedOne, is a Moroccan-Swedish record producer, record executive, singer and songwriter. He has worked in production for high-profile recording artists including La ...
production " About a Girl", Berrabah was rumoured to have left the group. She had missed two engagements promoting the album. It was later revealed that in fact Buchanan had been removed due to disagreements with Berrabah and Range, and replaced by
Jade Ewen Jade Louise Ewen (born 24 January 1988) is a British singer, actress and a former member of the girl group Sugababes. She began her singing career in a girl group named Trinity Stone, which signed with Sony BMG in 2005 but disbanded in 2007 wit ...
. Berrabah and Range had earlier quit the Sugababes claiming that they could not work in the group any longer, their management then retained them and removed Buchanan instead. Following these events, Berrabah checked into a European health clinic for a three-week stay, citing "severe nervous exhaustion". ''Sweet 7'' was released in early 2010 after multiple delays from late 2009. It charted at number 14 on the UK Albums Chart. The Sugababes began recording a new studio album soon after, leaving Island Records for a distribution deal with
RCA Records RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic R ...
in 2011. The first single, was intended to be the song "
Freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...
" was released for free in August as a gift to fans. A few months after the release, Range explained that the Sugababes were taking a break while they pursued individual endeavours.


2011–present: Solo career

Berrabah began working on solo material in 2011 with producer
Pete Kirtley Peter Edward Kirtley (born 14 April 1972) is an English songwriter, record producer and music entrepreneur. He has produced over 200 records worldwide with sales exceeding 15 million and 100 million streams, including seven number-one hit si ...
, who had previously produced her co-writing contribution, "Now You're Gone" from ''Taller in More Ways'' and material by Boo2. In January 2012, Berrabah confirmed she had been working on a solo album. A clip of the song "God Won't Save You Now" was posted to the
SoundCloud SoundCloud is a German audio streaming service owned and operated by SoundCloud Global Limited & Co. KG. The service enables its users to upload, promote, and share audio. Founded in 2007 by Alexander Ljung and Eric Wahlforss, SoundCloud is ...
account of Kirtley and fellow producer Sacha , who are collectively known as D-B-X. The full song leaked a few weeks later. On 6 March 2012, it was reported Berrabah had gone to
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
to record new material for the album. Berrabah was featured on the song "Ordinary Me" by rapper Mr. Bigz on the latter's mixtape ''The Bigz Bang Theory'' in late 2012. In May 2013, Berrabah confirmed she had nearly completed work on her solo album, and was looking to release the collection some time in the summer. Berrabah had earlier stated that she had written every song on the album apart from two. Berrabah teamed up with
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...
DJ Adam J for his single " Love (Is All We Need)", and featured production team The Nightcrashers. Berrabah released another single, "Summertime", on 21 September 2014. The premiered on Vevo on 9 August. During this time, Berrabah also made a series of appearances on reality competitions, competing in the BBC celebrity gymnastics show '' Tumble'' (with professional partner Douglas Fordyce) in mid-2014, and ''
Celebrity Masterchef ''MasterChef'' is a British competitive cooking reality show produced by Endemol Shine UK and Banijay and broadcast in 60 countries around the world. The show initially ran from 1990 to 2001 and was revived in 2005 as ''MasterChef Goes Large' ...
'' in 2016. She made her theatre debut in 2019, with the
jukebox musical A jukebox musical is a stage musical or musical film in which a majority of the songs are well-known, pre-existing popular music songs, rather than original music composed for the musical. Some jukebox musicals use a wide variety of songs, while ...
''Club Tropicana''.
/ref> In January 2022, Berrabah was announced as the presenter of the late show on Milton Keynes radio station MKFM.


Personal life

Berrabah married Marcio Sousa Rosa on 17 October 2014 and the couple filed for divorce in 2020. They share a daughter, Amirah Hope.


Discography


Singles


Other appearances


Music videos


Songwriting credits


References


External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Berrabah, Amelle 1984 births English people of Moroccan descent Living people Musicians from Aldershot People educated at Alderwood School Sugababes members English women pop singers 21st-century British women singers