User:Blue (Male Group)

Blue are a British boyband, consisting of members Lee Ryan, Duncan James, Anthony Costa and Simon Webbe, who rose to stardom in 2001 with the release of their debut album "All Rise". Between 2001 and 2005, the group released three UK #1 albums and eleven UK top ten singles, including three UK #1 singles.

Alongside their success in the UK, the group were successful in Asia and mainly in Europe. The group split in 2005, mainly due to Ryan's dissatisfaction with the group's direction. Following moderately successful solo careers, the group returned in 2009 with the sell-out "Best Of Blue Tour", before confirming a new album would be released sometime in 2011.

The group will also represent the UK at the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest in Germany with the song "I Can", which has so far peaked at #16 in the UK. Worldwide, the group have sold almost 15 million albums.

Career (1999-2005)

Formation (1999-2000)

In July 1999, a number of auditions were held around the country to find three male singers to be a part of a new group called Banned. Of the 157 people that applied for the first auditions, only Lee Ryan was deemed suitable for the role. It was then decided that Ryan would be the face of the group and be pushed as lead singer due to his "outstanding vocal ability, tone and range".

In August 1999, two auditions were held in London which Ryan was on the panel for. 21 year old Duncan James impressed all four people judging the talent but it was feared due to the five year age gap between Ryan and James that fans wouldn't like it. After three of the panel said no, Ryan intervened and said he wanted James to be a member of the group. 18 year old Jamie Moore was also invited to be a member of the group.

The group went on to a grueling vocal training regime which could consist of singing for up to 16 hours a day. In February 2000, Moore decided to leave the group due to not yet recording material. James and Ryan had since become the group's main songwriters and formed a close bond and friendship. In March 2000, Ryan and James began a search for a new member to join the group. After 50 people arrived, Jack Bailey was picked alongside Simon Webbe and Anthony Costa. After initially setting out to find only one or two new members, Ryan and James couldn't choose between 20 year old Webbe and 17 year old Costa and brought both into the group. Just two weeks later, Bailey quit the group and it was decided they would remain as a four-piece group consisting of Ryan, James, Webbe and Costa.

After almost a year of vocal, dance and media training, the group signed to Virgin Records in November 2000 and began work on their debut album. In February 2001, the group fought their management to change the name, claiming they wouldn't release music under the Banned name. They became known as Blue just two days later.

Solo Careers (2005-2009)

Lee Ryan

Ryan started his solo career in 2005 with the release of his debut single "Army Of Lovers". It peaked at #3 in the UK and his self-titled debut album was released the week later. It peaked at #6 in the UK and #9 in Ireland, being certified as double-platinum in the UK for sales of 600,000 copies. The second and third singles, "Turn You Car Around" and "When I Think Of You", were less successful than his debut, peaking at #12 and #15 in the UK respectively.

In November 2006, Ryan released his second album "Justified" which reached #5 in Ireland and topped the UK Album Chart, where it eventually sold 1.8 million copies earning a 6x Platinum certification. In total five singles were released from the album. "Like I Love You", "Cry Me A River" and "Rock Your Body" all peaked at #2 in the UK upon their respective releases. Fourth single "Senorita" failed to reach the UK top ten, peaking at #13, whilst "I'm Lovin' It" peaked at #7 in the UK.

Almost three years later, in September 2009, Ryan released his third studio album "FutureSex/LoveSounds". The album was a huge hit with music critics and fans alike, selling 3.5 million copies in the UK alone, becoming the seventh best-selling album in the UK in history. It topped the UK Album Chart whilst peaking at #7 in Ireland. Six tracks from the album were released as singles. The first, fourth and sixth singles, "SexyBack", "LoveStoned" and "Summer Love" all topped the UK Singles Chart whilst the remaining singles, "My Love", "What Goes Around... Comes Around" and "Until The End Of Time" peaked at #2, #4 and #8 respectively.

As of January 2011, Ryan has sold a total of 10 million albums worldwide, 5.9 million of which are from the UK.

As well as his music career, Ryan also became a successful TV presenter with his E! UK chat show "Lee Lately". As of March 4th 2011, 521 episodes have been aired over four series between 2007 and 2011. A fifth series of the show, consisting of 20 episodes, will air in July 2011.