the girl groups and boy bands of the 90s and early 2000s
hold a particularly special place in the hearts of fans that grew up in those eras
some came together organically and some were manufactured by industry professionals some never
made it on the charts at all and some rose all the way to number one or number two in this case
dream was one of the lucky ones the quartet achieved immediate success from the moment
their debut single dropped but they weren't able to surpass or even maintain that achievement
and quickly faded into obscurity let's find out whatever happened to pop girl group dream
talent scout judith fontaine selected four california girls
melissa schumann age 14 ashley poole holly blake arnstein and alex chester
all age 13 for a new group she was putting together in 1998 the group's original name
was first warning before later being changed to dream judith was also the one who hooked
the girls up with producer kenny burns who was instrumental in molding the group's sound
kenny then hooked the girls up with a very well-known and hugely successful record label ceo
that meeting would result in the group signing with sean combs
or puff daddy at the time to his bad boy records label and leaving judith fontaine
this move would also give the girls their first taste of entertainment industry drama
when judith later sued puff as well as holly melissa and ashley claiming to have discovered
the group alex wasn't included in the lawsuit since she wasn't in the group anymore she had
been replaced by holly's friend 13 year old diana ortiz the lawsuit ended up being dismissed
apparently alex left for the ever popular reason to pursue other endeavors but the
real reason behind her departure is far darker and more disturbing
she expressed her experience in a very candid editorial for on stage blog writing when i was in
p diddy's dream i worked 12-hour days i was forced to be on an extreme diet and exercise regimen
we ran six miles every day on top of dancing four to eight hours a day my calorie intake was
constantly being monitored my waist size scrutinized my weight daily jotted down
if any of us gained a pound we would have to work extra hard that day and eat less
luckily i left just when dream was about to take off they want a dream to sign a recording contract
without having our lawyers look it through of course my mom was not about to allow her 15 year
old daughter to do such a stupid thing like that our producers gave us an ultimatum then and there
if i didn't sign the contract right now i could leave i left the group's debut single he loves you
not was released in september 2000 and would go on to peak at number two on the billboard hot 100.
for all intents and purposes it probably deserved to be a number one hit but destiny's child's
independent women was holding strong at that position and not letting go
their debut album it was all a dream dropped the following january
the subsequent single this is me enjoyed a fair amount of success as well especially
the music video which claimed the number one spot on mtv's trl despite being known for cultivating
the careers of r b and hip-hop artists puff who by this time had become reincarnated as p diddy
had successfully led the first white artist signed his label to multi-platinum status on their debut
a huge smash single and multiple tours with some of pop's biggest artists
puff was well aware of his power in the industry and how much weight his name carried that he even
branded the group puff daddy's girl group dream for their introduction into the music world
in a 2016 interview with complex.com the group made it clear that he wasn't anywhere near
as hands-on as he led the public to believe he was saying this was not a dannity kane situation
it was not even close to that there was a big disconnect from puff and us because we were from
such different worlds we were four white girls from california doing pop music and that's what
also made it really great being on an urban label i think that's what sparked people's interests
i think that was a reason why we blew up so fast but puff was straight business he didn't care if
feelings were heard he said what he needed to say he would tell us we needed to lose weight
he would tell us he liked or he didn't like that song just very business with us and then
less than eight months after their album dropped bad boy halted its promotion in the wake of the
events that occurred on september 11 2001. by next april melissa who was dissatisfied
with the business decisions being made since the incident had left the group and new member casey
sheridan came in she would get the opportunity to record vocals for the group's sophomore album
but the group's dream would soon become a nightmare lead single crazy tanked and the girls
were dropped from the label although initially shelled their second album titled reality
would be released in limited quantities in france a couple of years later it would finally become
available in the us on itunes in 2008 but as of now it's been removed for unknown reasons
in the years that follow the members all ventured off on different paths diana melissa and ashley
created a new group called lady phoenix that went nowhere one major factor was melissa's pregnancy
the trio even filmed footage for a potential reality show but it failed to get picked up
by a network ashley then embarked on a solo singing and songwriting career
melissa tried her hand at acting appearing in films including love don't cost a thing
she also married and had the baby that caused all the lady phoenix drama
a son diana left music altogether and went into the food and beverage industry
she also told her lgbtq plus story in support of the history unerased organization about
knowing she was a lesbian at a very young age and wishing she had a community back then for support
holly joined another band called world magnet for a short time
got a master's degree worked as an occupational therapist and became a wife and mother
then on may 29 2015 the original members of dream announced via twitter that they would be making
a comeback the decision came as a result of a reunion of sorts they had at holly's home
to celebrate her birthday at the time the group seemed to show a lot of growth and maturity
and appeared to have a firm handle on how they wanted to approach this new chapter
in the same complex.com interview melissa spoke about their vision for the future saying we are
committed to making this for ourselves for each other our families and fans so that this time
it can actually sustain itself and not be where i feel like other girl groups will be like
we're doing a reunion thing and then they're gone this is more to us than just that ideally
we'd like to make music together for the rest of our lives it's serendipitous for us we love each
other and we should be making music together and it's not fair to us or the fans to not go for it
we owe it to ourselves to go for it and finish what we started
this time around it's going to be the way it's supposed to be done
by the middle of 2016 they would complete a tour
and release their first new single in over a decade unfortunately by october ashley
announced via snapchat and facebook that dream had once again disbanded
nothing much was heard from the group until one year later however it wasn't music related
melissa made the tough decision to finally come forward and reveal on her blog that
nick carter from the backstreet boys raped her 15 years ago when she was 18
and he was 22. not surprisingly nick immediately released a statement denying the allegations
in 2019 ashley and her husband who just happens to be the brother of
short-term dream member casey sheridan happily welcomed the birth of her boy and girl twins
that were conceived through ivf after years of infertility issues thanks for watching
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