Damage are a British R&B

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 ...

who achieved success in the 1990s with eleven hit

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

, including four top 10 successes on the UK Singles Chart. They have sold 4 million records worldwide. The band currently consists of Jade Jones, Rahsaan J Bromfield, Andrez Harriott, and Noel Simpson.

History

1995–1999: Formation and ''Forever''

The band was formed by Rahsaan "Ras" Bromfield and Noel Simpson who were students at the Barbara Speake Stage School in the London neighbourhood of

Acton Acton may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Acton Australia * Acton, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Acton, Tasmania, a suburb of Burnie * Acton Park, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart, Tasmania, formerly known as Acton Canada ...

. They rapped and danced at school assemblies. Jade Jones was brought into the band when Bromfield and Simpson heard him sing a high note. Andrez Harriott, a student at Sylvia Young Theatre School, was recruited after he and Jones performed together in the musical play '' Carmen Jones''. Coreé Richards was asked to join the band after he was heard singing at a bus stop. The band sent a demo tape of a cover version of the Jackson 5 song "Anything" to Jazz Summers of Big Life Records in early 1995. Damage made inroads into the UK Singles Chart and the second single " Love II Love" reached number 12 while the follow-up, "

Forever Forever or 4ever may refer to: Film and television Films * ''Forever'' (1921 film), an American silent film by George Fitzmaurice * ''Forever'' (1978 film), an American made-for-television romantic drama * ''Forever'' (1992 film), an American ...

", charted at number 6 during the Christmas period. "Forever" was also notable for being both the first song that

Steve Mac Steve McCutcheon (born 15 January 1972), known professionally as Steve Mac, is a British record producer, songwriter and musician. A multi-award-winning producer, he is one of the most prolific songwriters and record producers in modern British ...

and Wayne Hector wrote together, and the song that caught the ear of Simon Cowell and effectively led to Mac becoming the chief songwriter-producer for Cowell's subsequent projects. Damage's debut album ''

'' followed in 1997, along with two further UK top 10 singles – " Love Guaranteed" and a cover version of

Eric Clapton Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is often regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s list of ...

's " Wonderful Tonight", the latter reaching number 3. The quintet subsequently embarked on an extensive touring schedule while negotiating a new

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

following the collapse of Big Life. Jones remained in the media spotlight through his long-term romance with

Emma Bunton Emma Lee Bunton (born 21 January 1976) is an English singer, songwriter, actress, and media personality. She rose to fame in the 1990s as a member of the girl group Spice Girls, in which she was nicknamed Baby Spice. With over 100 million recor ...

of the

Spice Girls The Spice Girls are a British girl group formed in 1994, consisting of Melanie Brown, also known as Mel B ("Scary Spice"); Melanie Chisholm, or Melanie C ("Sporty Spice"); Emma Bunton ("Baby Spice"); Geri Halliwell ("Ginger Spice"); and Vict ...

2000–2001: ''Since You've Been Gone''

In 2000, the band signed with

Cooltempo Records Cooltempo, the dance music imprint of Chrysalis Records, was revived in May 2018. The label released albums by artists such as Kenny Thomas, Milli Vanilli, Adeva, Shara Nelson, Mica Paris and Innocence. History Cooltempo emerged at the end ...

and released the first single from their second album, " Ghetto Romance". The song was produced by production duo Tim & Bob, and peaked at No. 7 on the UK Singles Chart. On 30 August, " Rumours" was released as second single. The song is a mixture of R&B and

2-step Two-step or two step may refer to: Dance *Two-step (dance move), a dance move used in a wide range of dancing genres *Country-western two-step, also known as the Texas Two-step * Nightclub Two Step, also known as the California Two-step *2-step ( ...

. The CD2 single contains UK garage

remix A remix (or reorchestration) is a piece of media which has been altered or contorted from its original state by adding, removing, or changing pieces of the item. A song, piece of artwork, book, video, poem, or photograph can all be remixes. The o ...

es of "Rumours" and their previous single "Ghetto Romance", as remixed by Ed Case & Carl H and Groove Chronicles, respectively. The second album was initially due for release on 25 September 2000, following the release of "Rumours". However, the release date was subsequently pushed back to allow for new material to be recorded. This resulted in the album's track listing being revised. The initial track listing includes the tracks "Feelin' Me" and "Midnight Caller", as well as an outro called "Before We Leave". The second album, '' Since You've Been Gone'', was released on 2 April 2001. However, the final release omits the last tracks and instead replaces them with "I Don't Know" (featuring

), "After the Love Has Gone" and a Mushtaq mix of "So What If I". "

After the Love Has Gone "After the Love Has Gone" is a single by Earth, Wind & Fire released in 1979 on ARC/Columbia Records. The song reached No. 2 on both the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100, behind The Knack's "My Sharona" and the US Billboard Hot R&B Singles chart, No. ...

" was released as the fifth and final single from the album in December 2001.

2002: ''Live & Liberated'' and split

A short while later, after being dropped by their record label, the band decided to become independent artists, setting up their own management company, Set It Off Management. In April 2002, the band supported Gabrielle on her UK Arena Tour, where they premiered new material for the first time. In an attempt to re-invent themselves, the band decided to become a

musical ensemble A musical ensemble, also known as a music group or musical group, is a group of people who perform instrumental and/or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely of instrumentalists, ...

, with Andrez moving to drums, Noel to keyboards and Rahsaan to lead guitar, retaining Jade and Coree on lead vocals. An EP of tracks recorded on the tour, entitled "Live and Liberated", was made available for a short time. The tracklisting includes the previously unreleased tracks "Scum", "Boogie Woogie", "That's It", "So Ridiculous" and "Diamonds & Roses", the intended lead single from a third album that the band were recording at the time. The group claimed that the EP was the first time they had recorded music "we truly wanted to make". Shortly after the tour, after much tension in the Damage camp, and a bust up with Jones, Richards decided to leave the band. Although the remaining four members decided to continue, less than six months later, the band had split. Harriott and Jones formed CherryBlackStone, a six-piece ensemble, which also included Harriott's wife Wendy. After releasing an EP in 2006, and supporting Beverley Knight on her UK Arena Tour in 2007, the band subsequently split. In 2010, the original line-up reformed for a one-off gig at Party in the Park in Leeds on 25 July, but did not officially reunite at that time.

2014–present: Return

In early 2014, Damage reformed as a

quartet In music, a quartet or quartette (, , , , ) is an ensemble of four singers or instrumental performers; or a musical composition for four voices and instruments. Classical String quartet In classical music, one of the most common combinations o ...

without Richards for the

second series The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds eac ...

of the

ITV2 ITV2 is a British free-to-air television channel owned by ITV Digital Channels, a division of ITV plc. It was launched on 7 December 1998. For a number of years, it had the largest audience share after the five analogue terrestrial stations, a ...

documentary '' The Big Reunion'' along with other groups such as

Eternal Eternal(s) or The Eternal may refer to: * Eternity, an infinite amount of time, or a timeless state * Immortality or eternal life * God, the supreme being, creator deity, and principal object of faith in monotheism Comics, film and television * ...

and A1, although Richards did appear on the show to talk about the band and meet with his bandmates one last time. Since their reformation the group have sporadicly performed at gigs together.

Discography

*''

'' (1997) *'' Since You've Been Gone'' (2001)

Concert tours

*Forever Tour (1998) *Live in Concert (2014)

References

External links

Damage on BBC Music
*

Biography at AllMusic A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Damage (British Band) British contemporary R&B musical groups English boy bands Black British musical groups Musical groups from London Musical groups established in 1995 1995 establishments in England Big Life artists