now there got to know names please yeah that's unusual cleo oh you're clear that's cleopatra
and you yonah yonah they started singing straight out of the womb and their talent was undeniable
they would then dive into the music industry head first and strive to be seen and heard
during the worldwide explosion in the 90s of some of the most successful pop acts of all times
the three teenage sisters succeeded when they lit up the stage with their colorful outfits
signature braids and cool dance moves then the music suddenly stopped
let's find out whatever happened to british pop girl group cleopatra
sisters cleo yonah and zenam higgins formed the group the world would come to know as cleopatra
in the early 90s in manchester england they also have another sister terry the baby of the family
but she was too little to join her big sisters at the time
with a diverse group of early musical influences such as kat stevens
enya and michael jackson the girls first began singing at a very young age
clio specifically would also begin writing songs at age nine their mother who's also a singer
noticed the talent in her daughters and decided to enter them into a competition however she was
no stage mom she constantly checked in and asked them if this was something that they wanted to do
they won that competition and got signed to a management team that led them to sign their first
major record deal with warner brothers originally they were known as cleopatra and the attractions
since cleo took over the role as lead singer with jonah and zenim serving as
backup singers and dancers ultimately they decided to carry on as simply cleopatra
after signing their record deal things went fast and furious causing the girls to leave school and
get private tutors 1998 would be a blockbuster year for the three teenagers their debut single
called cleopatra's theme dropped in the early part of the year and was an immediate success
it rose to number three on the uk singles chart giving them their first top five hit
a couple of other singles were released that also made it into the top five
gaining the group several awards nominations
but how would they do across the pond their success in the uk ultimately got the attention
of one american music icon in particular that knew the girls would be the perfect
act to sign to her own record label madonna signed them right away to her maverick label
and after their performance of cleopatra's theme at the 11th annual nickelodeon kids choice awards
the song jumped to number 36 on the billboard hot 100. even the music video gained a lot of
attention and ended up at the number 4 spot on mtv's trl top 10 countdown
of course with the group being so young parental guidance was mandatory so their mother opted
to go out on tour with them all the travel actually turned out to be a great escape for her
the girl's father was extremely abusive and it felt good to be out of that environment
things just kept getting better and better for the group
their debut album titled coming atcha was released that summer they filmed a concert special for the
disney channel performed for 150 000 people at wembley stadium on the spice girls tour
and participated in a christmas concert at the vatican at the request of the pope
they ended off the year with the christmas eve premiere of their very
own sitcom the show lasted for two seasons on the british children's television channel
citv and examined the lives of the girls on tour and at home with their family
if they wanted to take a break at this point they absolutely earned it but that wasn't part of their
plan the girls went right back into the studio to begin recording material for their follow-up album
stepping out was released in the summer of 2000
everything was in place to make this project a success top producers jimmy jam and terry lewis
dallas austin and daryl simmons were brought in to work their magic they promoted the us lead
single called you got it on various television shows including the tonight show with jay leno
and even famed photographer marcus clinco who's responsible for numerous iconic album covers
including beyonce's dangerously in love and mariah carey's the emancipation of mimi shot their album
cover the difference in styles between their debut albums cover and this album's cover is quite
obvious the group's image went from girls next door to sexy young women at the suggestion of the
label in a 2018 article written by cleo herself for vice.com she spoke about the experience saying
i was dealing with a management team and a record label who didn't seem to have any
women doing production or marketing it was men men men and their idea of a woman was a sexual object
even with everything seemingly in place behind the scenes issues going on at
warner caused the promotion of the album's uk single come and get me to be lackluster
and the song enter the charts outside of the top 20. the uk release date for the
album also kept getting pushed back and it ended up never being released at all
there was also pressure at the label for cleo to become a solo artist
the trio felt at this time it was best to part ways with warner and they did in 2001.
over the next decade they would purchase homes start families and appear in a reality tv show
in interviews they would mention that they were gearing up for a comeback but it never happened
xenom kept the lowest profile of them all and was only ever really seen with her sisters
when they popped up to do the occasional performance her solo work can be found on
soundcloud and according to her instagram she has a daughter loves blue cheese kush and is a lesbian
yonah put her non-singing skills to good use and began teaching street dance and cheerleading
in deprived areas of manchester she also went back to school and earned herself a diploma in health
and social care in 2012. she has two children and as of 2020 she works as a complimentary therapist
specializing in aromatherapy and reflexology
cleo was the only one in the group who really gave it her all to try and conquer
the music world as a solo artist in 2007 she finally released her first solo track
called feeling like this but her mainstream return would put her back in the spotlight in a major way
she appeared on the second season of the voice uk in 2013 and made it all the way to
the semi-finals before being eliminated however the experience wasn't all sunshine and rose's
numerous reports popped up about her alleged diva behavior supposedly experienced by her coach on
the show black eyed peas frontman will i am they both denied the rumors and have had nothing but
good things to say about one another in the media will even gave cleo all of his contact information
after her last performance and said he'd love to work with her in the future it is worth mentioning
that these rumors magically surfaced on the day before voting was to take place
she made her return to reality tv with sister yona in 2019 on celebrity coach trip before
getting back to what she does best and hitting the stage in a group of shows performing the
music of aretha franklin and tina turner the cobin 19 pandemic has her doing what pretty much every
other recording artist is doing connecting with and performing for her fans on social media she
is also a busy mom of two children with her former partner marlon mckenzie a former x factor reject
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