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Eternal was a London based 1990s R&B girl group that found fame in 1993 and went on to become one of the UK's most successful girl groups of all time, achieving both domestic and global success.
The group was made up of church-going sisters Easther and Vernie Bennett and school friends Kéllé Bryan and Louise Nurding (also known as Louise and Louise Redknapp), who both went to the famous Italia Conti Academy stage school.
Launched in 1993 with the Top 5 smash Stay, Eternal became the first girl group to have a million-selling album in the UK, with their debut set, Always & Forever. It was 1994's fourth biggest selling LP and spawned six Top 15 singles. Eternal's success was quickly recognised - they were named Best Group at the 1993 Smash Hits Poll Winners' Party and in 1995 they earned four BRIT Award nominations, including Best Album for Always & Forever.
In 1995, Louise left the band amid marked controversy over the fact that Louise was the only white member; some quarters suggested Louise was dumped to improve Eternal's chances of breaking America. Eternal's management, however, denied this was the case. Louise has stated on many occasions that she simply wanted to pursue a solo career and had signed a solo deal with EMI six months prior to her official departure.
As Louise embarked on her (what was to be considerably successful) solo career, Eternal continued to enjoy success as a trio with their second album Power of a Woman, which gave them four Top 10 hits. In 1996, they were asked to sing the theme song for Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Someday. However, whilst this seemed like the ideal opportunity for the group to break America, for some reason Eternal's version was used everywhere except the USA (where American soul group All-4-One took the vocal honours).
In May 1997, the group joined forces with US singer BeBe Winans to score their first - and only - UK chart-topper, I Wanna be the Only One. Taken from their third LP, Before the Rain, it became Eternal's biggest hit to date: it was the third most played song on British radio in 1997 and earned them a MOBO Award and Capital FM Award for Best Single. It was also nominated for Best Single at the BRIT Awards; although the gong went to All Saints, unofficial reports suggest that winner Never Ever was closely challenged by two acts: Eternal and Spice Girls.
After a further Top 5 single, Angel of Mine (which went on to become a U.S. no.1 for R&B singer Monica in 1999), Eternal released their Greatest Hits package in October 1997. The compilation contained fourteen consecutive Top 15 hit songs - an unprecedented record for a British girl group - and rocketed to no.2 on the British album charts. It sold in excess of a million copies (the biggest-selling LP of 1997 not to reach no.1), making it 1997's ninth best-selling album and the biggest hits package from any act that year.
In 1998 Kéllé departed in yet another debacle when it became apparent that Kéllé had been asked to leave the group by Easther and Vernie via a letter from their solicitor, following a reported breakdown of professional relations between the sisters and Kéllé.
Easther and Vernie recruited for a replacement and appointed a singer named TJ, who subsequently left the group after only a brief stint, leaving just the two founding Bennett sisters once again. The now duo released one final single, What'cha Gonna Do (which reached a disappointing no.16) in 1999, and a critically acclaimed self-titled album that performed dismally - it failed to even make the Top 75 - before being dropped by EMI in 2000.
In less than seven years, Eternal became the most successful British R&B female group ever, achieving notable popularity in Japan, where their song Who are You? was used in a Toyota advert, south-east Asia, Australia and parts of Europe. They even managed to score a Top 20 hit in the US with Stay - a big achievement for a British female act in the pre-Spice era of the mid-90s. They also scored a string of hits in both Australia and New Zealand where both I Wanna Be the Only One and The best achieved platinum sales. Globally, Eternal's total sales stands at over 9 million.
Kéllé Bryan experienced limited post-Eternal success in the form of one no.14 single called Higher Than Heaven in October 1999. She also presented The N List on Nickelodeon with Dave Berry for a while. There were rumours that Kéllé had recorded a track with Slash from Guns N' Roses called Wait A Minute for her solo album Breakfast In Bed, which was, unfortunately, never to be released. It was later confirmed, however, that Slash had never met Kéllé and knew nothing of a track with Kelle. The track 'Wait A Minute' was written by a singer/songwriter called Jack Blades. The same plight struck her second single, I Wanna Know, which was cancelled due to lack of media interest and personal health issues, following her diagnosis as a sufferer of lupus, an illness she now campaigns for awareness of.
In 2003, Easther Bennett recorded a cover of "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" which was featured on a Valentine's Day love songs compilation CD. This sparked much interest amongst stalwart Eternal fans of a possible comeback from one of the UK's best female vocalists. Disappointingly nothing more came of this although the song was featured on several other compilation albums. Easther Also provided backing vocals on "Stay Another Day" which was a b-side track on no 1 Christmas single "Sound Of The Underground" by Girls Aloud. That same year, Easther teamed up with reggae stars, Aswad, to record a cover of Diana King's "Shy Guy" which was released as a single. Unfortunately this failed to make an impact on the UK Charts (reaching no 62). In 2004, Easther recorded the classic song "We are Family" for the soundtrack to the film "Tooth". The song features in the end credits. Easther has also recorded backing vocals on material by girl group Clea, but all has gone quiet since.
In March 2006 internet site www.ticketmaster.co.uk began advertising an "Arena Tour 2006" which featured Eternal alongside other acts such as Boyz II Men and En Vogue, however it was later cancelled. Eternal were to come back with only two original members, with the surprise announcement of Easther Bennett and Kelle Bryan being the two that reunited. The pair met up and have started to try and rebuild their relationship again. Vernie however couldn't take part in the reunion as she was pregnant at the time, and has since had the child.
Kelle Bryan recently took part in ITV's " Love Island " as one of 11 contestants. Kelle became runner-up in the show.
Kelle Bryan currently co-hosts a new ITV 1+2 gameshow called Glitterball on various nights from Sunday - Wednesday, usually after midnight.
A New Download only Album by Eternal has been released as of 27th March 2007, its called Eternal : The remixes album, and contains 27 remixes of their singles. You can download this album on Itunes, HMV DIGITAL and loads of other Legal download sites