The Brand New Heavies

1985–1990: Formation and early years In 1985, Simon Bartholomew, Jan Kincaid, and Andrew Levy formed a band originally called Brother International. The band recorded a demo which was played at a nightclub called The Cat in the Hat. After the demo received positive feedback in the club, the band was booked to perform at the club. In 1987, Brother International opened for James Brown at a concert at Wembley Arena. In June 1988, The Brand New Heavies released a single titled "Got to Give" on Cooltempo Records. On 1 June 1990, The Brand New Heavies released their debut self-titled album. The album's lead single "Dream Come True" peaked at number sixty-three on the US Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart. Ruth departed from the group shortly after the release of single. 1991–1999: Breakthrough success and lineup changes At the recommendation of their record label, American singer N'Dea Davenport was added to the lineup in 1990. The group re-recorded and released their first album on Delicious Vinyl with lead vocals by Davenport in 1991. The album peaked at number twenty-four on the UK Albums Chart and earned a silver-certification by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). The group reissued their singles; "Dream Come True", "Stay This Way", and "Don't Let It Go to Your Head", all of which peaked in the top forty on the UK Singles Chart. The album spawned the single "Dream On Dreamer" which became crossover hit, peaking within the top twenty on several international music charts. The album's lead single "Sometimes" peaked at number eleven on the UK Singles Chart and earned silver-certification by the BPI. The album's follow-up singles "You Are the Universe" and "You've Got a Friend" charted in the top twenty-five; with the latter peaking at number nine. In 2000, Anderson departed from the group to record her third solo album. 2000–2004: Declined success In 2000, the group experienced a decline in mainstream popularity. They were dropped from their record deal with FFRR Records and Delicious Vinyl. In 2003, they released their fifth studio album titled ''We Won't Stop on Canyon International. The album failed to reach the success of their previous albums. The group returned to the studio to record another album. During the recording of their upcoming album, they were introduced to Nicole Russo by their management. Russo was invited to write and record on the album and soon became their featured vocalist. and Elephantitis: The Funk + House Remixes 2 (2009). In October 2009, they released a live album titled Live in London'', which features their concert performance at The O2 Arena on 16 October 2008, in London. In November 2011, The Brand New Heavies released a instrumental album called Dunk Your Trunk. In April 2013, The Brand New Heavies released their album Forward. The album featured lead vocals by Davenport and new addition Dawn Joseph. Davenport however was not invited back to finish recording on the album and when the group released "Sunlight" (which features Davenport's vocals) as the album's lead single, Davenport was not featured in the music video. The group toured during the latter part of 2013, often using concert flyers with Davenport's image to market the tour. In a statement issued from Davenport's Facebook, she announced that she was not invited to rejoin the group on their concert tours and any shows marketed with her likeness would not include her. On 10 October 2013, The Brand New Heavies released a statement on their website stating that Dawn Joseph had officially joined the band as their full-time lead vocalist. 2014–present: Subsequent releases In October 2014, The Brand New Heavies released their ninth studio album Sweet Freaks, with Dawn Joseph on lead vocals. Jan Kincaid and Dawn Joseph both left The Brand New Heavies in late 2015. In June 2016, Davenport briefly re-joined the band for a two-month tour and left again in August 2016. In July 2016, Sulene Fleming joined and toured with the group until 2018. In November 2018, the band started touring with Angela Ricci on vocals. In April 2019, The Brand New Heavies released "Getaway", a previously recorded unreleased song which featured N'Dea Davenport on vocals. The group released their studio album, TBNH, on 6 September 2019 on Acid Jazz Records. The album features unreleased songs recorded with Davenport, Siedah Garrett, Angie Stone, Beverley Knight, Angela Ricci, Jack Knight, Honey Larochelle, and Laville. In July 2024, The Brand New Heavies announced their plans to release a deluxe edition of their album Brother Sister titled Brother Sister 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition. The group also announced their upcoming Brother Sister 30 UK Tour with Ricci as their featured vocalist. ==Legacy==

The Brand New Heavies have been considered as one of the defining bands of the acid jazz, a genre mixture of jazz, funk, and hip-hop music. The group have sold over 2.5 million records worldwide. In 2020, the group was nominated for a Lifetime Achievement Award at the third annual Pop Magazine Awards. In April 2021, an art exhibition called Brand New Heavies was curated by Racquel Chevremont and Mickalene Thomas. The exhibition featured the work of artists Abigail DeVille, Xaviera Simmons, and Rosa-Johan Uddoh. The curators also chose the name as the featured artists considered themselves the "New Heavies" of the artworld. The exhibition opened at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn, New York City on April 2. ==Members==

;Current members • Simon Bartholomew – vocals, guitar, producer (1985–present) • Andrew Levy – bass, keyboards, producer (1985–present) • Angela Ricci – vocals (2018–present) ;Former members • Jan Kincaid – vocals, drums (1985–2015) • Lascelles Gordon – percussion, keyboards (1985–1992) • Ceri Evans – keyboards (1985–1992) • Jaye Ella Ruth – lead vocals (1990) • Rob Cremona – keyboards (1990–1991) • Jim Wellman – saxophone (1990–1991) • N'Dea Davenport – lead vocals, tambourine (1990–1995, 2005–2013, 2016) • Mike Smith – saxophone (1994–1996) • Dennis Rollins – trombone (1994–1996) • John Thirkell – trumpet, flugelhorn (1994–1997) • Siedah Garrett – lead vocals (1995–1998) • Carleen Anderson – lead vocals (1999–2000) • Sy Smith – session vocalist (2003) • Nicole Russo – lead vocals (2003–2004) • Dawn Joseph – lead vocals (2013–2015) • Sulene Fleming – vocals (2016–2018) ==Discography==

• The Brand New Heavies (1990) • Heavy Rhyme Experience, Vol. 1 (1992) • Brother Sister (1994) • Shelter (1997) • ''We Won't Stop'' (2003) • Allabouthefunk (2004) • Get Used to It (2006) • Dunk Your Trunk (2011) • Forward (2013) • Sweet Freaks (2014) • TBNH (2019) ==Awards and nominations==