Blue are an English boy band consisting of members Simon Webbe,

Duncan James Duncan James (born Duncan Inglis, 7 April 1978) is an English singer and actor. He became widely known in 2001 as a member of the boy band Blue and later for playing Ryan Knight in the British soap opera ''Hollyoaks''. Early life James grew u ...

Antony Costa Antony Daniel Costa (born 23 June 1981) is an English singer and songwriter. He is best known as a member of the boy band Blue. Early life Costa was born in Edgware, North London, Costa attended Hendon School in nearby Barnet. He is half-Greek ...

and

Lee Ryan Lee Ryan (born 17 June 1983) is an English singer, songwriter and actor, best known as a member of the boy band Blue. Ryan took part in the BBC series ''Strictly Come Dancing''. He was partnered with professional dancer Nadiya Bychkova and was ...

. The group formed in 2000 and released three studio albums before announcing a hiatus In late 2004. In January 2011 the group reformed and represented the United Kingdom at the 2011 Eurovision Song Contest in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian language, Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second- ...

with the song " I Can", coming in 11th place with 100 points. In 2013 it was confirmed that the group would be joining ''

The Big Reunion ''The Big Reunion'' is a British reality-documentary series that began airing on ITV2 on 31 January 2013. The show featured chart-topping bands who were big in the UK pop music scene between the 1990s and early 2000s, and the programme followed ...

'', in which six groups from the past (including

Liberty X Liberty X (originally called Liberty) are a British-Irish group originally consisting of Michelle Heaton, Tony Lundon, Kevin Simm, Jessica Taylor and Kelli Young. The group was formed by the five finalists of the 2001 ITV talent show '' Popstar ...

Atomic Kitten Atomic Kitten is an English girl group formed in Liverpool in 1998, whose current members are Liz McClarnon, Jenny Frost and Natasha Hamilton. The group was founded by Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark (OMD) members Andy McCluskey and Stuart ...

and

5ive Five (stylised as 5ive) are a British boy band from London consisting of members Sean Conlon, Ritchie Neville, and Scott Robinson. They were formed in 1997 by the same team that managed the Spice Girls before they launched their career. The ...

) reform for a one-off gig. On 27 March 2013, the group announced they would embark on their first headlining tour later on in the year, their first tour in nearly ten years. In April 2015, Blue were dropped by their record label Sony due to the poor performance of their fifth album ''

Colours Color (American English) or colour (British English) is the visual perceptual property deriving from the spectrum of light interacting with the photoreceptor cells of the eyes. Color categories and physical specifications of color are associ ...

''. In 2022, Blue returned with singles "Haven't Found You Yet" and " Dance with Me", both from their sixth studio album ''Heart & Soul'', which was released on 28 October 2022. Blue have sold 15 million records worldwide. According to the

British Phonographic Industry British Phonographic Industry (BPI) is the British recorded music industry's Trade association. It runs the BRIT Awards, the Classic BRIT Awards, National Album Day, is home to the Mercury Prize, and co-owns the Official Charts Company with ...

(BPI), Blue has been certified for 3.6 million albums and 1.6 million singles in the UK.

History

2000–01: Formation and ''All Rise''

In May 1999,

and

met at the ages of 15 and 17, respectively, when auditioning for a boy band on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

's '' This Morning'', with

Simon Cowell Simon Phillip Cowell (; born 7 October 1959) is an English television personality, entrepreneur and record executive. He is the creator of '' The X Factor'' and ''Got Talent'' franchises which have been sold around the world. He has judged on ...

putting the group together. Ryan made it into the band, as did

Will Young William Robert Young (born 20 January 1979) is a British singer-songwriter and actor who came to prominence after winning the 2002 inaugural series of the ITV talent contest '' Pop Idol'', making him the first winner of the worldwide '' Idol ...

(who would go on to win the first series of ''

Pop Idol ''Pop Idol'' is a British music competition television series created by Simon Fuller which ran on ITV from 2001 to 2003. The aim of the show was to decide the best new young pop singer (or "pop idol") in the UK based on viewer voting and par ...

'' in 2002), although Costa was not chosen. The boy band never took off, but Ryan and Costa remained friends following their meeting. In 2000, Costa and another one of his friends,

, decided to form their own band, and they were soon joined by Ryan. Their manager

Daniel Glatman Daniel Glatman (born 27 June 1975) is an English people, English pop music, pop Talent manager#Music managers, music manager, best known for co-creating and managing the boy band Blue (English band), Blue. Among the artists he has represented ar ...

said, "Duncan came to see me with his friend, Antony Costa, who was also in the same position

anted to be in the music industry Anted is the name of the coins issued by Antedios (or Anted), an ancient king of the Iceni, a Brythonic tribe who inhabited the present day county of Norfolk in Britain from approximately the 1st century BCE until the 1st century CE. Only the f ...

and they told me that they wanted to do something together. When I asked them if they had anyone in mind to work with, they said they had a friend, Lee Ryan, whom they wanted to invite to join their band. The three of them came in a couple of days later and I was completely blown away by the incredibly talented stars that stood before me." Ryan, Costa, James and Glatman all felt that something was missing and so they went on to audition for a fourth member, a position eventually filled by Ryan's flatmate, Simon Webbe. Blue started recording for their debut album following their new line-up. They released their debut single " All Rise" in May 2001 and it reached number four on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. Their follow-up single " Too Close" was released in August 2001 and peaked at number one. Following this, the band went to

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

to film the "

If You Come Back "If You Come Back" is a song by English boy band Blue, released as the third single from their debut studio album, '' All Rise'' (2001). It was written by Ray Ruffin, Nicole Formescu, Ian Hope, and Lee Brennan of boy band 911. The song topped th ...

" music video, and while there, they witnessed the attacks on the World Trade Center. The following month, Blue were being interviewed by British newspaper '' The Sun'' and Ryan commented that "This New York thing is being blown out of proportion" and asked "What about whales? They are ignoring animals that are more important. Animals need saving and that's more important." The other members of the band tried to silence Ryan, but he went on. This caused a huge media backlash that resulted in Blue losing a record deal in the United States and campaigns to sack Ryan from the group. Despite the backlash, Blue went on to achieve a second number one in November with the ballad. The album '' All Rise'' was released in time for Christmas and reached number one, eventually selling in excess of 1.3 million copies in the UK. It peaked at number one on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is a list of albums ranked by physical and digital sales and (from March 2015) audio streaming in the United Kingdom. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the Official Charts ...

and was certified 4× Platinum in the UK. The album spent 63 weeks on the UK top 75 Albums chart. The final single from the album, "

Fly by II "Fly By II" is a song by English boy band Blue. It was released on 18 March 2002 as the fourth single from their debut studio album, '' All Rise'' (2001). The release includes the band's first non-album exclusive, "Love R.I.P". "Fly By II" is a ...

", reached number six in March 2002. The album received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Sharon Mawer of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

gave the album three and half stars out of five and noted, "The vocals were sung as if there was some real feeling, and that maybe is what separated Blue from their peers." Andre Paine of the ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'' gave the album five stars out of ten stating, when describing some of the tracks that "All of these are fine, but so as not to alienate a single teenage girl, there's also the traditional boyband slop; '

' ...the ballads and various

Backstreet Boys Backstreet Boys (often abbreviated as BSB) are an American vocal group consisting of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, AJ McLean, and cousins Brian Littrell and Kevin Richardson. Lou Pearlman formed the group in 1993 in Orlando, Florida. The ...

rip-offs. But at least Stargate & Ray Ruffin know what they do. And Blue are young and talented enough to secure themselves a successful pop career."

2002–04: ''One Love'' and ''Guilty''

Blue's second album, ''

One Love One Love may refer to: Music * One Love (record producer), Timothy Sommers, American record producer, half of the duo Kinetics & One Love * ''One Love: The Bob Marley Musical'', a 2015 stage musical Albums * One Love (Blue album), ''One Love'' (B ...

'', was released in October 2002, entering at number one on the

and selling more than 150,000 copies. Three singles were released from the album: "

", which peaked at number three, "

Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word" is a song written by English musician Elton John and songwriter Bernie Taupin. It was recorded by Elton John and released in 1976, both as a single and as part of the '' Blue Moves'' album. It was John's sec ...

", featuring vocals from Elton John, which peaked at number one, and " U Make Me Wanna", which peaked at number four. The song "Supersexual" was issued in parts of South America and Spain in order to promote the band in the region. The album peaked at number one on the

, where it stayed for one week. On 20 December 2003 it was certified 4× Platinum in the UK. In June 2003, Hugh and David Nicholson of 1970s Scottish band Blue took the group to court, attempting to sue them and their record label

EMI EMI Group Limited (originally an initialism for Electric and Musical Industries, also referred to as EMI Records Ltd. or simply EMI) was a British Transnational corporation, transnational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate founded in March 1 ...

for £5 million. The case was a high-profile High Court case over the rights to use the name Blue. After some negotiation, the two groups agreed to drop the case and were both allowed to continue to be known as Blue and to use the name commercially. Their third album, ''

Guilty Guilty or The Guilty may refer to: * Guilt (emotion), an experience that occurs when a person believes they have violated a moral standard Law *Culpability, the degree to which an agent can be held responsible for action or inaction *Guilt (law) ...

'', was released in autumn 2003, entering at number one on the

and selling 100,000 copies on the week of release. The album spawned four singles, including the title track, "

", which peaked at number two, "

Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I'm Yours "Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)" is a soul song, by American musician Stevie Wonder, released in June 1970 as a single on Motown's Tamla label. It spent six weeks at number one on the U.S. R&B chart and peaked at number three on the U.S ...

", featuring vocals from Stevie Wonder and

Angie Stone Angela Laverne Brown (born December 18, 1961) known professionally as Angie Stone, is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and record producer. She rose to fame in the late 1970s as member of the hip hop trio The Sequence. In the early 1990s ...

, which peaked at number 11, "

Breathe Easy "Breathe Easy" is a song written by Lars Halvor Jensen, Martin Michael Larsson and Lee Ryan and released by the British boy band Blue. The song was included on their third studio album, ''Guilty'' (2003). It was released as a single on 22 Marc ...

", which peaked at number four, and " Bubblin'", which peaked at number nine. The album ended up selling more than 1 million copies in the UK alone. The song "The Gift" was released to promote the album in Japan. It was released on 3 November 2003 in the United Kingdom and on 25 November in the United States. It debuted at number one on the

after its release, and it was certified 2× Platinum in December 2003. The album was particularly successful in the UK, Europe, Japan and New Zealand. "

", "

Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours "Signed, Sealed, Delivered (I'm Yours)" is a soul song, by American musician Stevie Wonder, released in June 1970 as a single on Motown's Tamla label. It spent six weeks at number one on the U.S. R&B chart and peaked at number three on the U.S ...

", "

" and " Bubblin'" were released as singles from the album. "Guilty", co-written by

Gary Barlow Gary Barlow (born 20 January 1971) is an English singer, songwriter, record producer, and television personality. He is the lead singer of the British pop group Take That. Barlow is one of the United Kingdom's most successful songwriters, havi ...

, was the most successful single from the album, peaking at number two in the UK.

2004–05: ''Best of Blue'' and hiatus

In November 2004, the band released ''

Best of Blue ''Best of Blue'' is the first greatest hits compilation album released by English boy band Blue. The album was released in the United Kingdom on 15 November 2004, by Innocent Records. It was due to be supported by a European tour of the same na ...

'', a greatest hits compilation. The album spawned the singles "

Curtain Falls "Curtain Falls" is a song by English boy band Blue (English band), Blue. The song was co-written by the band and Stargate (production team), StarGate, who produced the track. Stevie Wonder is also credited as a writer due to the sampling of his ...

", which peaked at No. 4 in the UK, "

Get Down on It "Get Down on It" is a 1981 song by American band Kool & the Gang. It was originally released on their '' Something Special'' album in 1981. The single was certified Gold by the RIAA. Track listing Charts The song hit the top 10 of the US P ...

" and "Only Words I Know", which peaked at No. 2 in France and Italy. The album peaked at No. 2 on the UK Albums Chart and was awarded a double platinum certification. Following the release of ''Best of Blue'', group members Simon Webbe and

made the decision to release an album compiling a selection of the group's B-sides, remixes and previously unreleased material. The album also includes three tracks only previously released in Japan: "The Gift", "It's Alright" and "Elements". The album also includes band member

' duet single, "I Believe My Heart". By the indication of the album booklet, a live version of "Lonely This Christmas" from ''CD:UK'' was intended to be track seven on the album, however, it was removed from the track listing for unknown reasons. The album was released in July 2005, becoming available in several European countries, as well as Japan, Thailand and China, but was not released in the UK. In 2005, the group announced that they would pause and go into hiatus to devote themselves to solo careers for some time. In 2009, the band planned a return, but it never happened at the time.

2011–12: Return and Eurovision Song Contest

It was announced on 29 January 2011 that Blue would reunite and also represent the United Kingdom in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2011 The Eurovision Song Contest 2011 was the 56th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Düsseldorf, Germany, following the country's victory at the with the song "Satellite" by Lena. Organised by the European Broadcasting Uni ...

, with their entry " I Can". It coincided with the tenth anniversary of the establishment of the band in 2001 and a one-hour documentary, '' Eurovision: Your Country Needs Blue'', was broadcast in April 2011 celebrated their preparations for the final. It was the third time the group has Eurovision ambitions as group member Lee Ryan wrote and composed "Guardian Angel",

Andy Scott-Lee Andy Scott-Lee (born Robert Andrew Jason Scott-Lee; 29 March 1980) is a Welsh singer and the brother of Steps singer Lisa Scott-Lee. Career Music Scott-Lee was a member of the group 3SL, who had UK top 20 singles with "Take It Easy" and "Touc ...

's song for the 2005 edition of ''Making Your Mind Up''. Furthermore,

came second in the 2006 edition of the show with the song "It's A Beautiful Thing". Group member

was a panellist on all episodes of the '' Eurovision: Your Country Needs You'' series in 2009, which

Jade Ewen Jade Louise Ewen (born 24 January 1988) is a British singer, actress and a former member of the girl group Sugababes. She began her singing career in a girl group named Trinity Stone, which signed with Sony BMG in 2005 but disbanded in 2007 wit ...

won. He also announced the UK votes in the

Eurovision Song Contest 2009 The Eurovision Song Contest 2009 was the 54th edition of the Eurovision Song Contest. It took place in Moscow, Russia, following the country's victory at the with the song "Believe" by Dima Bilan. Organised by the European Broadcasting Union (E ...

final. Blue became the first UK representatives since

The Shadows The Shadows (originally known as the Drifters) were an English instrumental rock group, who dominated the British popular music charts in the late 1950s and early 1960s, in the pre- Beatles era. They served as the backing band for Cliff Richard ...

in 1975 to have had multiple no.1 singles in the UK chart prior to appearing in Eurovision, and the first since

Sonia Sonia, Sonja or Sonya, a name of Greek origin meaning wisdom, may refer to: People * Sonia (name), a feminine given name (lists people named, Sonia, Sonja and Sonya) :* Sonia (actress), Indian film actress in Malayalam and Tamil films :* Sonia ...

in 1993 to have had a no.1 at all before entering the competition. The song "I Can" premiered on 11 March 2011, on ''

The Graham Norton Show ''The Graham Norton Show'' is a British comedy chat show presented by Graham Norton. It was initially broadcast on BBC Two, from 22 February 2007, before moving to BBC One in October 2009. It currently airs on Friday evenings, with Norton s ...

''. In the contest, they came 11th with 100 points. After the contest Blue said they were the victims of political voting, claiming they would have finished higher if countries had voted for the performance rather than their neighbours. It was later revealed that, when the European Broadcasting Union (who runs Eurovision) released the split Televote & Jury results, Blue were in 5th place in the televote, with the final result down to finishing in 22nd place on the jury vote. Duncan James insisted that the result of their Eurovision bid won't affect their UK comeback, adding: "Should the worst happen, we're still going to press ahead with the album. It won't be the last of us – we're all fully committed to this band again." The band revealed during an interview that they had recorded a collaboration with American R&B superstar

Bruno Mars Peter Gene Hernandez (born October 8, 1985), known professionally as Bruno Mars, is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is known for his stage performances, retro showmanship, and for performing in a wide range of musical ...

for their upcoming fourth studio album. Discussing the record with Digital Spy, Lee Ryan said: "We've been writing with

Ne-Yo Shaffer Chimere Smith (born October 18, 1979), known professionally as Ne-Yo, is an American singer, songwriter, actor, dancer, and record producer. He gained fame for his songwriting abilities when he penned Mario's 2004 hit " Let Me Love You ...

, and I've written at least a couple of songs on my own that will probably make the album. We've also been working with Bruno Mars on a song called "Black and Blue" – he's sending his parts over from a demo we recorded a while ago. It's got some haunting notes on the chorus." They also revealed that three tracks on the album had been produced by RedOne and that they felt that the material was "their best work to date". During February 2012, the band embarked on a small tour across

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

, performing with fellow boyband A1 and

Jeff Timmons Jeffrey Brandon Timmons (born April 30, 1973) is an American pop singer, songwriter and producer and founding member of the Grammy-nominated pop group 98 Degrees. Career Rise of 98 Degrees Timmons was the founding member of 98 Degrees. While st ...

in three special concerts, two of which included the

Smart Araneta Coliseum The Araneta Coliseum, also currently known by naming rights sponsorship as Smart Araneta Coliseum, is an indoor multi-purpose sports arena that is part of the Araneta City in the Cubao area of Quezon City, Philippines. Nicknamed as "the Big Do ...

on 25 February 2012, and the

Singapore Indoor Stadium The Singapore Indoor Stadium, known exonymously as the Indoor Stadium, is an indoor arena located in Kallang, Singapore. It is within walking distance of the Singapore National Stadium, and collectively form a part of the wider Singapore Spor ...

on 28 February. The tour was billed as "Boybands: The Greatest Hits Tour".

2012–2019: ''Roulette'' and ''Colours''

On 22 June 2012, the band premiered their new song, "

Hurt Lovers "Hurt Lovers" is a song by English boy band Blue. It was written by Alexander Zuckowski, Martin "Fly" Fliegenschmidt, Jez Ashurst, and David Jost and recorded for the group's fourth studio album, ''Roulette'' (2013). Production was helmed by Gru ...

", during a concert in China. In an interview shortly after the concert, the band claimed that "Hurt Lovers" was one of the first tracks they recorded after re-uniting, and that it was an obvious choice for their comeback single. It received positive reception across Asia, before being officially premiered in Germany on 6 October 2012. Thus, the creators of the film ' approached the band, and asked if the song could be used as the official theme for the film. Thus, the track will receive an early release on 4 January 2013, before being released across the world later in the year. In promotion of the single, the band performed it live on ''

Vocea României ''Vocea României'' (; English: ''The Voice of Romania'') is a Romanian reality singing competition broadcast on PRO TV. Based on the original ''The Voice of Holland'', the concept of the series is to find new singing talent contested by aspirin ...

'' on 4 December 2012, as well as embarking on an acoustic radio tour across six cities in Germany. In October 2012, the group confirmed via their official

Facebook Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin Mosk ...

page that the title of their fourth studio album would be '' Roulette''. It was also revealed that the album will receive an early release in Germany, being made available from 25 January 2013. The band shot the album's artwork in a deserted casino in November 2012. On 21 February 2013, it was confirmed that the group would join ITV2's reality series ''

''. The bands were originally only supposed to perform a one-off concert at London's Hammersmith Apollo on 26 February 2013, but the entire show sold out in under five minutes shortly after the premiere of the first episode on 31 January 2013. A DVD of the Hammersmith Apollo concert will be released in April 2013. On 11 February, it was confirmed that following high ticket demands and the popularity of ''The Big Reunion'', a full 12-date UK tour would be taking place from 3–12 May 2013. On 28 April 2013, '' Roulette'' was released in United Kingdom and Ireland. . " I Can" was released as the band's comeback single. The track was also used as the United Kingdom's entry for the

, which was held in

, Germany. The song came 11th in the contest, scoring 100 points. The single was released on 1 May 2011 as a digital download, with the physical release the day after. The track peaked at number 16 on the

, becoming Blue's lowest-charting single in the United Kingdom to date. The song was written by group members

and

with Ciaron Bell, Ben Collier, Ian Hope, Liam Keenan, and Norwegian production team StarSign. It was produced by Ronny Svendsen and Hallgeir Rustan, the latter who previously produced several of Blue's hit singles. "

" was released as the official lead single from the album on 4 January 2013, in Germany, three weeks prior to the release of the album in the country. The track also serves as the official theme for the German film '. In an interview, the band claimed that "Hurt Lovers" was one of the first tracks they recorded after re-uniting, and that it was an obvious choice for the band's reunion single. The track was co-written by the band, along with Jez Ashurst, David Jost, Martin Schmidt and Alexander Zuckowski. The band first premiered the song during a concert in China on 22 June 2012. It received positive reception across Asia, before being officially premiered in Germany on 6 October 2012. The creators of the film ' approached the band, and asked if the song could be used as the official theme for the film. Thus, the track received an early release in Germany on 4 January 2013, before being released across the world later in the year. In promotion of the single, the band performed it live on ''

The Voice of Romania ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', as well as embarking on an acoustic radio tour across six cities in Germany. " Without You" was released as the second single from the album on 16 May 2013 only in Germany, Swiss and Austria. The music video premiered the same day. "Break My Heart" was released as the third single from the album on 29 June for radio premiere and 5 August 2013 for digital download. The single was released as official single only in Germany and promotional radio single on United Kingdom. The music video was premiered on 18 August. The song was released as the third single in the United Kingdom as part of the ''Roulette Summer Edition EP'' on 2 September 2013. "Broken" and "Ayo" was released as the fourth and fifth single in the United Kingdom and Ireland in the same day: 2 February 2014. The music video for "Broken" premiered on 31 January 2013. Blue - Live in Malaysia

On 16 May the band released " Without You" as the second single from the album only in Germany, Swiss and Austria. The music video premiered the same day. "Break My Heart" was released as the third single from the album on 29 June for radio premiere and 5 August 2013 for digital download. The single was released as official single only in Germany and promotional radio single on United Kingdom. The music video was premiered on 18 August. Blue starred in their own TV programme on ITV2 called ''Blue Go Mad in Ibiza'', which followed the band as they ran their own bar out in Ibiza. Little did they know that they were being pranked, everybody involved with the bar excluding Blue themselves were actors who purposely made things as awkward as possible. In November 2014, Blue announced they had signed a two-album record deal with

Sony Music Sony Music Entertainment (SME), also known as simply Sony Music, is an American multinational music company. Being owned by the parent conglomerate Sony Group Corporation, it is part of the Sony Music Group, which is owned by Sony Entertainme ...

, starting with their fifth studio album ''

'' released on 9 March 2015. The album underperformed, which resulted in the band being dropped by the record label in April. Blue then embarked on a 16-date tour around the United Kingdom during March and April 2015. On 9 May 2015 Blue performed at VE Day 70: A Party to Remember in

Horse Guards Parade Horse Guards Parade is a large parade ground off Whitehall in central London (at grid reference ). It is the site of the annual ceremonies of Trooping the Colour, which commemorates the monarch's official birthday, and the Beating Retreat. H ...

, London, dressed as

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

RAF The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

officers. In summer 2017 the group started recording their next album, but the project was canceled when

did not renew the contract. After that, the band decided only to go on tour for the next few years, alternating with his solo projects – Antony Costa and James focused on the acting career and Ryan and Webbe released solo songs. In 2019 the band said they had no plans to release new material, only tours.

2021–present: ''Heart & Soul'' album and 20th Anniversary Tour

On 30 November 2021 the group confirmed they would be going on an arena tour to celebrate their 20th anniversary, it was also confirmed that

would be supporting them on the tour. When interviewed on '' This Morning'' the group also confirmed that they were back in the studio recording, a new album is expected to follow along with the tour. On 11 April 2022 the group announced that their sixth studio album '' Heart & Soul'' which would be released on 9 September 2022. On 20 May the group unveiled the track listing for the album on their social media accounts, following with first single "Haven't Found You Yet". On 29 June 2022, the group released the single " Dance with Me", a cover of the 2001

112 112 may refer to: *112 (number), the natural number following 111 and preceding 113 *112 (band), an American R&B quartet from Atlanta, Georgia **112 (album), ''112'' (album), album from the band of the same name *112 (emergency telephone number), t ...

single. The ''Heart & Soul'' album release date was pushed back to 28 October 2022. In November 2022, Blue performed at a fan festival in

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. The appearance attracted criticism due to Qatar's human right's abuses and strict LGBT laws.

Discography

;Studio albums * '' All Rise'' (2001) * ''

'' (2002) * ''

'' (2003) * '' Roulette'' (2013) * ''

'' (2015) * '' Heart & Soul'' (2022)

Tours

;Headlining * One Love Tour (2002–2003) * Guilty Tour (2003–2004) * Greatest Hits Tour (2005) * Roulette Tour (2013) * Colours Tour (2015–2016) * Blue Live (2016–2017) * 20th Anniversary Heart & Soul Tour (2022) ;Co-headlining *

(2013) * The Big Reunion Boy Band Tour (2014)

Awards and nominations

, - , style"text-align:center;" rowspan="2", 2001 , "All Rise" ,

The Record of the Year The Record of the Year was an award voted by the United Kingdom public. For many years it was given in conjunction with television programmes of the same name. The first show ran in the early evening on a December Saturday just before Christmas ...

for Best Single , , - , Blue , TMF Award for Best Breakthrough Artist/Newcomer , , - , style"text-align:center;" rowspan="2", 2002 , Blue ,

Brit Award for British Breakthrough Act The Brit Award for Best New Artist (previously Brit Award for British Breakthrough Act) is an award given by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), an organisation which represents record companies and artists in the United Kingdom. The accolad ...

, , - , Blue ,

Brit Award The BRIT Awards (often simply called the BRITs) are the British Phonographic Industry's annual popular music awards. The name was originally a shortened form of "British", "Britain", or "Britannia" (in the early days the awards were sponsored ...

for British Pop Act , , - , style"text-align:center;" rowspan="4", 2003 , Blue , Brit Award for British Group , , - , Blue ,

for British Pop Act , , - , Blue , MTV Asia Award for Favorite Pop Act , , - , Blue , MTV Asia Award for Favorite Breakthrough Artist , , - , style"text-align:center;", 2004 , Blue , MTV Asia Award for Favorite Pop Act , , - , style"text-align:center;", 2005 , Blue , MTV Asia Award for Favorite Pop Act ,

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blue Brit Award winners British contemporary R&B musical groups English boy bands Eurovision Song Contest entrants for the United Kingdom Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 2011 Musical groups established in 2000 Musical groups disestablished in 2005 Musical groups from London Musical groups reestablished in 2011 Sony Music Publishing artists Innocent Records artists Island Records artists Virgin Records artists Vocal quartets