2Be3 was a French

boy band A boy band is loosely defined as a vocal group consisting of young male singers, usually in their teenage years or in their twenties at the time of formation. Generally, boy bands perform Love song, love songs marketed towards girls and young ...

that was active from 1996 to 2001.

History

2Be3 was formed in 1996 and comprised three childhood friends from

Longjumeau Longjumeau () is a commune in the southern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. Inhabitants of Longjumeau are known as ''Longjumellois'' (). History Longjumeau Party School In 1911, Lenin founded the Longjumeau ...

(a suburb of Paris):

Filip Nikolic Filip Nikolic ( Serbian: Филип Николић, ''Filip Nikolić''; 1 September 1974 – 16 September 2009) was a French actor and singer of Serbian extraction, best known as the lead of the French boy-band 2Be3. Born at Saint-Ouen, Seine-S ...

, Adel Kachermi and Frank Delay. Inspired by English bands like

Take That Take That are an English pop group formed in Manchester in 1990. The group currently consists of Gary Barlow, Howard Donald and Mark Owen. The original line-up also featured Jason Orange and Robbie Williams. Barlow is the group's lead singe ...

and Worlds Apart, the group produced 3 studio albums and various compilations before disbanding in 2001. The name 2Be3 was a

pun A pun, also known as paronomasia, is a form of word play that exploits multiple meanings of a term, or of similar-sounding words, for an intended humorous or rhetorical effect. These ambiguities can arise from the intentional use of homophoni ...

on the English language phrases ''to be free'' (in French, "être libre") and ''to be three'' ("être trois"). Hence the band's name was pronounced in English ("Two Be Three") rather than French ("Deux Be Trois"). Hugely popular in France, despite attempts to break the American and British markets (via an English-language single, ''Excuse My French'', produced in Miami by

Desmond Child John Charles Barrett (born October 28, 1953), known professionally as Desmond Child, is an American songwriter and producer. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2008. His hits as a songwriter include Kiss's "I Was Made for Lovi ...

), their only significant chart success occurred in their home nation. In 1997 they appeared in their own television series (called ''Pour être libre'') which ran for 40 episodes on TF1, and several videos were released including a live concert from the

Bercy Bercy () is a neighbourhood in the 12th arrondissement of Paris, the city's 47th administrative neighbourhood. History Some of the oldest vestiges of human occupation in Paris were found on the territory of Bercy, dating from the late Neolithic ...

arena in Paris. Their song, "Toujours là pour toi" is a French cover of

Never Gonna Give You Up "Never Gonna Give You Up" is the debut single recorded by English singer and songwriter Rick Astley, released on 27 July 1987. It is one of Astley's most famous songs. It was written and produced by Stock Aitken Waterman, and was released as ...

, originally sung by

Rick Astley Richard Paul Astley (born 6 February 1966) is an English singer, songwriter and radio personality, who has been active in music for several decades. He gained worldwide fame in the 1980s, having multiple hits including his signature song "Ne ...

. During year 2000, they went on a promotional tour in France, Germany, England, Switzerland, Belgium and Yugoslavia. In 2001, they left for Asia for a tour of several months and brought out the album "Excuse My French", which was a big success there.

Post-Breakup

After disbanding, Filip Nikolic had a role in the film ''

Simon Sez ''Simon Sez'' is a 1999 action film starring Dennis Rodman, Dane Cook, and John Pinette. The film was directed by Kevin Alyn Elders, and the score was composed by Brian Tyler. The film received extremely negative reviews and became a box offic ...

'' with

Dennis Rodman Dennis Keith Rodman (born May 13, 1961) is an American former professional basketball player. Known for his fierce defensive and rebounding abilities, his biography on the official NBA website states that he is "arguably the best rebounding ...

and appeared in the French version of '' I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!'' in 2006. Nikolic later had a television career as a comedian. From 2002 to 2007 he had a recurring role as Yann Boldec in the French series "Navarro" and, from 2007 to 2009, in the spin-off series "Brigade Navarro". Filip was reportedly preparing a solo album when he died of a heart attack on 16 September 2009. He was 35 years old.

History

Post-Breakup

Discography

Albums

Singles

Videos

Related Artists

References