S Club 7 are an English pop group created by former Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller consisting of members Tina Barrett, Paul Cattermole, Rachel Stevens, Jo O'Meara, Hannah Spearritt, Bradley McIntosh, and Jon Lee. The group was formed in 1998 and quickly rose to fame by starring in their own BBC television series, Miami 7. In their five years together, S Club 7 had four UK number-one singles, one UK number-one album, and a string of hits throughout Europe, including a top-ten single in the United States, Asia, Latin America and Africa. They recorded four studio albums, released 11 singles and went on to sell over 10 million albums worldwide. Their first album, S Club (1999), had a strong 1990s pop sound, similar to many artists of their time. However, through the course of their career, their musical approach changed to a more dance and R&B sound which is heard mostly in their final album, Seeing Double (2002).
The concept and brand of the group was created by Simon Fuller, also their manager through 19 Entertainment; they were signed to Polydor Records. Their show lasted four series and saw the group travel across the United States, eventually ending up in Barcelona. It became popular in 100 different countries where the show was watched by over 90 million viewers. The show, which was a children's sitcom, often mirrored real-life events which had occurred in S Club, including the relationship of Spearritt and Cattermole, as well as Cattermole's eventual departure from the group. As well as the popularity of their television series, S Club 7 won two BRIT Awards—in 2000 for British breakthrough act and in 2002, for best British single. In 2001, the group earned the Record of the Year award. Their song "Reach" was used in the arcade dance game EZ2Dancer in "EZ 2 Dancer UK Move". Cattermole departed the group in 2002, citing "creative differences", and the group changed their name from S Club 7 to simply S Club. Their penultimate single reached number five in the UK charts, and their final album failed to make the top ten. Following Cattermole's departure, the group fought many rumours presuming that they were about to split. However, on 21 April 2003, during a live onstage performance, S Club announced that they were to disband.
After a five-year split, it was announced in October 2008 that O'Meara, Cattermole, and McIntosh were to perform a mini-reunion tour. The tour consisted of a series of university and nightclub gigs, where they performed a set list consisting of a selection of songs from their greatest hits album. After O'Meara, Cattermole and McIntosh reunited, rumours persisted that all the original members would renuite. In October 2014, it was confirmed that the original lineup would reunite for the first time in over a decade for BBC Children in Need, later announcing a UK reunion tour for 2015.
