Kingsland Road (originally Kingsland) were an English

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...

-style and

urban Urban means "related to a city". In that sense, the term may refer to: * Urban area, geographical area distinct from rural areas * Urban culture, the culture of towns and cities Urban may also refer to: General * Urban (name), a list of people ...

-inspired

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

and

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

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 ...

formed in 2012. The band is made up of Matt Cahill, Joe "Connor" Conaboy, JJ Thompson (known by his surname) and Josh Zaré. Originally a five-piece that included Jay Scott, they were the fourth contestant eliminated on the tenth series of ''

The X Factor ''The X Factor'' is a television music competition franchise created by British producer Simon Cowell and his company Syco Entertainment. It originated in the United Kingdom, where it was devised as a replacement for ''Pop Idol'' (2001–2003 ...

'' in 2013. Kingsland Road released their debut single "

Dirty Dancer "Dirty Dancer" is a song by Spanish singer Enrique Iglesias and American singer Usher, recorded for Iglesias' sixth studio album, '' Euphoria'', and included on Usher's EP '' Versus''. A remix of the song, which features American rapper Lil ...

" in August 2014 and it peaked at number 85 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 ...

. On 23 October, Scott quit the band due to lack of enjoyment. Their debut album ''We Are the Young'' was released in March 2015. The group announced they were splitting up in June 2015. In 2019, they announced a reunion show on 21 December 2019.

Career

2012–13: Formation and ''The X Factor''

Kingsland Road was originally made up of Josh Zaré from

Maidstone Maidstone is the largest Town status in the United Kingdom, town in Kent, England, of which it is the county town. Maidstone is historically important and lies 32 miles (51 km) east-south-east of London. The River Medway runs through the c ...

, Joe "Connor" Conaboy from

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

, Jon James "JJ" Thompson from

Coventry Coventry ( or ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It is on the River Sherbourne. Coventry has been a large settlement for centuries, although it was not founded and given its ...

(known by his surname), Matt Cahill from

Gloucester Gloucester ( ) is a cathedral city and the county town of Gloucestershire in the South West of England. Gloucester lies on the River Severn, between the Cotswolds to the east and the Forest of Dean to the west, east of Monmouth and east ...

and Jamie "Jay" Scott from

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

. Zaré and Conaboy already knew each other from college, and invited Scott, Thompson and Cahill to form a band after seeing them on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. They named themselves "Kingsland" as they lived together on

Kingsland Road Kingsland Road is the name given to an East London stretch of the A10 road within the London Borough of Hackney in England. The A10 was originally a Roman Road better known as Ermine Street or sometimes the Old North Road. The name ''Kingslan ...

. In 2013, Kingsland auditioned for the tenth series of ''

''. In their room audition they sang "

Don't You Worry Child "Don't You Worry Child" is the sixth single released by Swedish house music supergroup Swedish House Mafia. It is the last single from their second compilation album, '' Until Now'', featuring vocals from Swedish singer John Martin. In the Unit ...

", then "

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" at the arena. They performed "

For Once in My Life "For Once in My Life" is a song written by Ron Miller and Orlando Murden for Motown Records' Stein & Van Stock publishing company, and first recorded in 1965. It was written and first recorded as a slow ballad. There are differing accounts of ...

" at bootcamp and at judges' houses they sang "

Dance with Me Tonight "Dance with Me Tonight" is a single by English singer-songwriter Olly Murs, taken from his second studio album, ''In Case You Didn't Know''. It was released as the album's second single on 18 November 2011 and was written by Murs, Claude Kelly ...

" (in front of original artist

Olly Murs Oliver Stanley Murs (born 14 May 1984) is an English singer, songwriter, and television presenter. He was runner-up on the sixth series of ''The X Factor'' in 2009 and was subsequently signed to RCA Records and Sony Music in the United Kingdom, ...

) and " A Thousand Years". On 1 October 2013, a week before the live shows, it was announced that Kingsland had been forced to change their name as there was a band in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

also called Kingsland, so they became Kingsland Road. Kingsland Road lost the flash vote in week 2 and were in the bottom two, but were saved by the judges. They were in the bottom two again in week 4, where they were up against Tamera Foster. This time they were voted out when Scherzinger, Osbourne and Walsh all voted to eliminate Kingsland Road. When the voting statistics were revealed at the end of the series, Kingsland Road were shown to have received more votes than Foster, meaning if Walsh sent the result to deadlock, Kingsland Road would've been saved and Foster would've been eliminated.

2014–15: Debut album, US record deal and split

Kingsland Road funded their debut album ''We Are the Young'' through

PledgeMusic PledgeMusic was an online direct-to-fan music platform, launched in August 2009. It was started to facilitate musicians looking to pre-sell, market, and distribute projects; such as recordings and concerts. It bore similarities to other artist p ...

. In June, they announced their debut single "

". It was released on 10 August 2014 and debuted at number 85 on the

. The band promoted the single and album by embarking on their debut UK tour from 2–9 August. On 7 October 2014, it was announced that Kingsland Road had signed a record deal in the United States. On 22 October, the band announced via their website that Scott had quit because "the boyband life asn'treally for him". ''We Are the Young'' was released on 15 March 2015. On 1 June, Kingsland Road announced they were disbanding.

Discography

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Musical groups established in 2012 Musical groups disestablished in 2015 English boy bands The X Factor (British TV series) contestants 2012 establishments in England