even though their competition included other super successful groups such as s club 7 atomic kitten
and the spice girls this trio still managed to secure two top 10 albums and seven consecutive top
10 singles in the uk they also topped the music charts across europe asia australia and the us
their fans however were completely oblivious to the extreme discrimination one member in
particular was experiencing let's find out what happened to british garage r b group mystique
alicia dixon sue elise nash sabrina washington and zena mcnally came together to make up the original
quartet known as mystique in the late 90s actually alicia from wellwood garden city and sabrina from
harliston first met at a dance studio in fulham two years prior when they were both 18. they
worked together for a couple of years before being joined by tina barrett from hammersmith to form a
trio and began performing under the name face to face tina would eventually leave to join another
british pop group and was then replaced with sue elise from dulwich and zena from birmingham
the ladies would spend the next several years toiling away behind the scenes before finally
getting signed to independent label telstar records and changing their name to mystique just
before things really got kicked off though zena would also lead the group to pursue a solo career
mystique's debut album with the new lineup titled lickin on both sides was released in october 2001.
it peaked at number three on the uk albums chart and became certified double platinum
all five singles off the album became top 10 hits in the uk including their
debut single y the track would also be the only one to feature departing member xena
the trio would experience instant international success with their third single one night stand
while the song peaked at number five on the uk singles chart it also entered the top 20 in
several other countries since the song had much more of an r b feel compared to the tracks that
came before it some unfortunate accusations began to surface of the group turning their backs on
the underground club scene from which they sprang in a 2002 interview with big issue north magazine
alicia had a simple explanation for why their entire album had them singing over a variety of
different styles and tempos i think that's just us we're naturally quite versatile we love the
raw garage and we love the chilling out sunday smooth r b the trio weren't experiencing only
highs in their career at this time there were some definite lows happening as well
they fired their management company and were then sued by them for breach of contract
their second album titled eye candy was released two years later and also went platinum even
though they had multiple hits on their first album this album would feature their biggest
international hit called scandalous it reached number 35 on the billboard hot 100 in the u.s
making it their only single to chart in the country as well as climb all the way to number two
on the dance charts their one and only north america release a self-title compilation
album came out the following year after the high from the success of their second album wore off
the group would announce that they would be splitting to pursue solo careers in 2005.
after the announcement it seemed the timing was better than ever to release a greatest hits album
so they did numerous rumors circulated over the coming years about a potential reunion
in 2016 alicia mentioned that the ladies had been in touch and a reunion was definitely in the cards
she also said that the group was approached to participate in the itv2 show the big reunion
but turned it down several years later however some shocking allegations about what went on in
the group would come to light and seriously jeopardize the chance of reunion ever being
possible since xena left the group so early in the game she was naturally able to get her solo career
off the ground much sooner than the others she released a couple of singles from her debut album
two years after her exit but british music lovers didn't show much interest japanese fans however
did after the release of one of those singles a collaboration with jamaican dancehall artist
vibes cartel called been around the world xena would end up releasing her debut album in japan
and southeast asia she went on to have a brief career in radio before leaving the entertainment
world for good after marrying american soccer player corey gibbs and relocating to the u.s
xena tapped into her entrepreneurial spirit and decided to start her own realty company and had
a successful run for several years following her divorce in 2014 and a move to los angeles she
noticed a void in a particular market it inspired her to found popular photo booth service capture
me for the last few years she's been working on her idea of creating a fast service restaurant
that specializes in serving tea over coffee and providing healthy meal options sue elise
the lesser known of the trio has stayed out of the public eye over the years in the group her vocals
were rarely heard on records which wasn't unusual since she was classified as a backing singer
around 2009 there were talks of a solo album however that never happened she's gone on to open
up several performing arts schools in and around kent southeast england and do some television
presenting and radio work today she splits her time between sydney australia and london in june
2021 she welcomed her first child a son with boyfriend ryan st david jones alicia who was
known as the rapper of the group went on to embark on a very successful solo career she's released
four studio albums to date with numerous top 20 hits to her name yet amidst all the professional
success she was also forced to deal with a lot of drama going on in her personal life along the way
alicia would marry for the first time in 2005 to her longtime boyfriend m.c harvey from uk garage
hip-hop group so solid crew it would be a brief union ending the following year the reason for
the split was harvey's alleged affair with uk's singer-songwriter javine hylton even though the
word alleged is often used in these cases they did go on to have a child a couple of years later
also around this time alicia would be dropped by her record label suffer major financial woes and
hit a very low point in her life over the years she's taken advantage of numerous television
presenting opportunities as well as some acting roles in 2007 she won the dance contest show
strictly come dancing and returned a couple of years later as a judge she would then move on
to the talent competition show britain's got talent she's also a published author writing a
series of children's books alicia would have her first child with her partner former backup dancer
azuka ononye in 2013 they went on to marry four years later and have another child she finally
made her dream of making it to the u.s come true by securing a spot as a judge on the spin-off
series america's got talent the champions in 2020. currently alicia is waiting for the 10th season of
australia's got talent to kick off where she'll be serving as a judge and she's also busy promoting
her newly launched wellness brand nobleblue which promises to be a one-stop shop for everything from
books to yoga mats to cbd products lead singer sabrina dropped her debut solo single oh my gosh
in 2010. she also participated in a couple of reality shows including i'm a celebrity get me
out of here she started her own record label and began releasing her projects through the business
2019 would be a blockbuster year for sabrina in many ways she launched her own homeware range
home by sw and she also released more music in one of those songs called gone she revealed her
private battle with alcohol after mystique split she also made history as a panelist on the first
british primetime program to feature a full panel of black women on the hip hop comedy show don't
hate the players in the summer of 2020 sabrina made the decision to finally speak out about a
sensitive issue that she faced for the first time in her life while a member of mystique colorism
both alicia and sue elise are mixed race and lighter skin than sabrina the first time i
experienced racism was in the music industry it's not talked about i was told i wasn't aesthetically
desirable because i was a dark-skinned black woman i was good enough to sing but was told i'd never
go on the front of a magazine as black women don't sell them later in the year sabrina would reveal
more behind-the-scenes shenanigans and her plan to collect what she felt was due to her
she would file a lawsuit against alicia as well as their former label for back royalties alicia
is alleged to have wrongfully claimed songwriting royalties for the group's first two songs
why and all i want and sabrina is serious about claiming back some of the cash
a spokesperson for alicia responded to the claims saying that alicia did
in fact write the wraps on both songs and receives a larger share of the profits since overall
she contributed more to the songs in the entire mystique catalog
another unfortunate piece of information that was exposed was that originally it was sabrina
that was tapped to appear on strictly come dancing but was blocked by management ironically it didn't
appear to be a bad move for alicia who would go on to appear on the show the following year
sabrina's latest project a single called don't call me
dropped in september 2020 she's currently working on an ep and hopes to release it sometime in 2021
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