1998–2003: S Club The group rose to fame by starring in their own
BBC television series,
Miami 7, in 1999. Over the five years they were together, S Club 7 had four UK No.1 singles, one UK No.1 album, a string of hits throughout Europe, including a top-ten single in the United States, Asia, Latin America and Africa. They recorded a total of four studio albums, released eleven singles and went on to sell over fourteen million albums worldwide. Their first album,
S Club, had a strong 1990s pop sound, similar to many artists of their time. However, through the course of their career, their musical approach changed to a more dance and
R&B sound which is heard mostly in their final album,
Seeing Double. The concept and brand of the group was created by Simon Fuller, also their manager through 19 Entertainment; they were signed to
Polydor Records. Their television series went on to last four series, seeing the group travel across the United States and eventually ending up in
Barcelona, Spain. It became popular in 100 different countries where the show was watched by over 90 million viewers. The show, which was a
children's sitcom, often mirrored real life events which had occurred in S Club, including the relationship of
Hannah Spearritt and
Paul Cattermole, as well as the eventual departure from the group of the latter. As well as the popularity of their television series, S Club 7 won two
Brit Awards—in 2000 for British breakthrough act and in 2002, for best British single. In 2001, the group earned the
Record of year. S Club's second to last single reached number-five in the UK charts and their final studio album failed to make the top ten. However, on 21 April 2003, during a live onstage performance, S Club announced that they were to disband.
2003–2004: Funky Dory In 2003, after S Club disbanded, Stevens signed a £1.5 million solo four-album deal with
Polydor Records and re-signed with Fuller. She said that breaking out on her own after success with S Club was difficult: "I think we [S Club] ended up conforming to what people's perceptions were. This one was the ditzy one, this one was the singer, this one was the dancer. And to come out of that and be a whole person has been a real challenge for me. I didn't have my say, really, in the group. None of us did". Her first solo single, written by
Cathy Dennis and produced by
Bloodshy & Avant, "
Sweet Dreams My L.A. Ex", was released in September 2003. Taking inspiration from
R&B and adult-style pop music, Stevens's debut solo album,
Funky Dory, was released later that month. The album was a hit, reaching number 9 on the UK albums chart and was certified gold. The album also gained praise from pop critics; Jamie Gill, in a review for
Yahoo! Launch, said that Stevens "eschews the cheap and cheerful approach of her old band for a slinky adult confidence and musical eclecticism." That December the album's title track "
Funky Dory", featuring a sample of the
David Bowie song "Andy Warhol" from his album
Hunky Dory, was released as its second single and failed to match the success of "Sweet Dreams My L.A. Ex", peaking at number twenty-four.
MusicOMH called it "musically better than "Sweet Dreams My L.A. Ex" with a hybrid of pop, Latin and even a hint of jazz infusion" but not a good single choice as a single as it lacked anything special and different. In July 2004, Stevens released the
BBC Sport Relief charity single, "
Some Girls", which was produced by
Richard X. It became a hit across Europe, and reached number two in the UK.
HMV.co.uk called the song Stevens's "finest song to date", and
Yahoo! Launch commented that "she came to save her career. She ended up saving pop." Stevens then signed a deal with
Matalan reportedly worth £1 million and had her hit song "More More More" as the title song for Matalan's advertising campaign. Following the success of "Some Girls",
Funky Dory was re-released to include "Some Girls" and another new track, a cover of
Andrea True Connection's "
More More More". "More More More" was issued as a single and peaked at number 3 in the UK, giving Stevens her third top ten solo single in the UK. At this point, Stevens and her management stepped up promotion, earning her a
Guinness World Record for "Most Public Appearances by a Pop Star in 24 Hours in Different Cities" (seven on 8–9 September 2004).
2005–2007: Come and Get It and films In March 2005, Stevens released her new single, "
Negotiate with Love", that was a top ten hit in the UK. "
So Good" was released in July 2005 and also peaked at number 10, In mid-2005,
Channel 4 broadcast a documentary which followed Stevens through the summer as she promoted "So Good". Her second album,
Come and Get It, produced by
Richard X and
Xenomania, was released in October 2005 and peaked at number 28 in the UK. The album was included on
The Guardian list "1,000 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die". The third and final single was "
I Said Never Again (But Here We Are)", which peaked at number 12 in the UK
2008–present: Business and other projects Since 2008, Stevens has been working as a businesswoman, co-creating clothing and makeup lines with British brands, in addition to philanthropic work – she worked for 5 years in the
Make Poverty History. In August 2008 she was announced as contestant of
Strictly Come Dancing as partner with professional dancer
Vincent Simone. She finished in second place. Stevens and Simone also took part in the
Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Specials to 2008 from 2014. In July 2011 a demo track entitled "Nothing in Common", which was recorded for
Come and Get It, was uploaded online. In 2011 she released a charity children's compilation
Tasty Tunes in a project with toddlers food company Ella's Kitchen. In 2013 Stevens was mentor assistant on the
New Zealand version of
The X-Factor helping
Melanie Blatt with the groups category. On 6 October 2014, Irish state broadcaster
RTÉ confirmed that Stevens would be taking on one of the red chairs on
The Voice of Ireland as the fourth coach. In December 2014, Stevens attended the
Strictly Come Dancing Christmas special and Strictly Tour, a dance show in UK. In May 2015 all seven of the original members of
S Club 7 reunited in an arena tour, entitled
Bring It All Back 2015. On 12 March 2015, Stevens appeared on BBC Radio 1's Innuendo Bingo. In 2017 she appeared on the cast of
Celebrity Masterchef. In December 2017, Stevens appeared on an episode of
Celebrity Mastermind. In 2019 Stevens joined the
Rip It Up The 70s theatre show with
Louis Smith,
Melody Thornton and
Lee Ryan. In 2022, she competed in the
fourteenth series of
Dancing on Ice and was third to be eliminated. On 9 November 2022, Stevens announced that she would be performing at
Mighty Hoopla 2023, marking her first solo performance since 2005, but after the death of S Club member
Paul Cattermole, she pulled out of the show. She began to perform on tour with the re-formed S Club, now a five-piece, from the fall of 2023 through the next year, dedicating the show to Cattermole. On 3 June 2024, she eventually performed a solo set at Mighty Hoopla 2024. ==Other ventures==