Destiny’s Child and Justin Timberlake recently announced their return to the bright lights of the music world and we couldn’t be more excited!
It’s going to be one heck of a year for comebacks in music, however there is a good possibility not all of them will survive in the current market. With so many music acts coming and going, it’s hard to keep track of who making it and just can’t cut it. We’ve compiled a list of just of some of the best and worst comebacks that the music industry has seen over the years.
(Warning: may contain flashing images)
Whether your a fan or not there’s no denying that after 10 years apart, the Take That reunion was massive. Number one singles, number one albums and sell-out tours, it doesn’t get better than that surely? Well it does. Robbie Williams re-joined the group, Gary Barlow became an X Factor judge and he even became celebrity dad of the year. I’d say that’s got to be one of the most successful comebacks in music ever, and they’re still going strong. To prove it, here’s the boys performing Rule The World during their tour, The Circus, to the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen in my life. Look out for Mark Owen’s little sparkly jump suit, very fetching!
Traveling back to 1980, it’s time to bring out those air guitars. Australian rockers AC/DC released album Back in Black following the death of their singer, Bon Scott and almost quit the music scene. However, it’s a good job they didn’t as the album has sold around 50 million copies all over the world. More than 30 years later and the band are still working together, and even recorded the soundtrack for mega-movie Iron Man 2. Here’s the band rocking out on stage live at Donington.
Whoever told those poor lads from Blue that it was a good idea to stage a comeback via the Eurovision Song Contest were severely miss-informed. “We’re not the first ones to be divided, won’t be the last to be reunited” – couldn’t have said it better myself, Lee. However coming 11th wasn’t good enough to win over the great British public and sadly, it all ended in Germany. Nevertheless the boys are staging ANOTHER comeback this year will a new album, Roulette, to be released later this month. If you can’t wait to hear their latest sound, why not cast your eyes back to that energetic Eurovision performance of I Can.
Our favourite catsuit-wearing, snake-charming, head-shaving superstar has had one of the most talked about careers of any musician. Britney Spears made a triumphant return to music in 2007 with album Blackout after a few years off getting married and having children. After a brief stint judging American X Factor, Britney’s rumoured to be making her way back into music again – we all jump for joy! After collaborating with the hugely successful will.i.am on single Scream & Shout, we know that Brit has it in her to release another amazing album. Piece of Me has to be one of our favourite Britney tracks, check it out below!
Green Day became international super rockers over night with the release of their third album Dookie, and although they continued their success with albums Nimrod and Warning the band failed to hit the same level of acclaim again. Fast forward to 2004 and American Idiot was released, becoming one of the biggest selling albums of the year and giving Green Day back their super-star status. The band sold millions of copies, embarked on a two-year world tour and won a Grammy – not bad at all. American Idiot charts the fall of America, its politics and the war in the middle-east and proved a huge hit with fans. These days you can travel to Broadway or the West End to watch Green Day’s rock opera live on stage which has won two Tony awards and a Grammy. Watch the cast perform at the Tony Awards below…
After having huge success with her previous albums Christina Aguilera released Bionic in 2010 following a four year break from the scene. Bringing a much edgier, electro-pop sound to the album, Christina took a risk to keep up with the current dance scene but unfortunately it didn’t work. Although the album secured number three in the US Billboard chart and number one in the UK, the singles failed to make any impact and her 2010 Bionic tour was cancelled shortly after. This slump in sales continued when Christina released her latest album Lotus in 2012 which, like Bionic, failed to hang on in the charts and quickly disappeared from the music tables. After having so much success previously, I think it’s only fair to remember what made Christina a hit. Watch the video below for her first single, Genie In A Bottle…
One of the most critically acclaimed comeback albums of all time has to be American rockers Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Californication. The album marked the return of guitarist John Frusciante, who is said to be the reason for the sound, and the success of the album which sold over 16 million copies. The band also won a Grammy for single Scar Tissue and embarked on a world tour to promote the album playing in over 20 counties including Russia, Japan and Brazil.
I’m not embarrassed to admit that I absolutely loved S Club 7… when I was little. I would practice the dance routines with my friends (I was always Rachel) and watch their TV series after school, so it’s safe to say I was a huge fan. Naturally, when I heard there was a reunion I was ecstatic, but then I soon realized S Club 7 became S Club 3 with only Jo, Bradley and Paul returning to the music scene. Playing up and down the country in student union bars, the newly named ‘S Club’ failed to get people moving to that ‘S Club beat’, so off they went on a tour of Australia with, er, Big Brovaz.Very random. Watch the clip below to see S Club in action. Pay particular attention to Paul’s dodgy dance moves…
If this list has got you in the mood for even more pop-tastic musical returns, tune into ITV2 on Saturday 26 January to watch The Big Reunion, where all our favourite pop groups from the 90’s will reunite and have two weeks to sharpen up their dance and singing skills before performing live to the nation. Look out for Atomic Kitten, 5IVE, B*Witched, Liberty X, 911 and the Honeyz…
