Kelli_Young
Kelli Young
Musical artist
Kelli Young (born 7 April 1982) is an English singer. She is best known as member of the pop group Liberty X.[1]
She went to Derby High School, Littleover, until she was 16. Her mother is Bajan.
In 2011 she married the songwriter Iain James, after 5 years dating, and they have twin boys, born in July 2012.[2]
2001–2007: Liberty X and hiatus
In 2001, Young auditioned for the ITV reality television music competition Popstars, a show intended to form a new group from individual contestants, becoming one of the finalist. While the five winning contestants formed Hear'Say, the five runner-up contestants – Young, Tony Lundon, Kevin Simm, Jessica Taylor and Michelle Heaton – formed the group Liberty X and signed a multimillion-pound record contract with Richard Branson and V2 Records. Liberty X released three studio albums and enjoyed seven Top 10 singles from 2001 to 2005: Their biggest hit, "Just a Little", reached number one in May 2002; "Thinking It Over", "Got to Have Your Love", "Song 4 Lovers", and "Holding on for You" all reached the top 5 in the UK Singles Chart. They split up in 2007 after selling over 3 million records worldwide.
After the split, Young starred the ITV Christmas special Britain Sings Christmas in 2007, performing a cover version of Mariah Carey's "All I Want for Christmas Is You". She tried to sign a solo deal with a few labels, but failed and took a long hiatus from her artistic career.[3]
2013–present: Liberty X return
In 2013 Young reunited with Liberty X for ITV2's reality show The Big Reunion, along with other pop groups of their time – B*Witched, Honeyz, 911, Five and Atomic Kitten – to solve past problems and do a live performance at the London Hammersmith Apollo on 26 February.[4][5] Due to the success, Liberty X returned for a full tour between 2013 and 2014.[6] In 2017, Young, Jessica Taylor and Michelle Heaton reformed Liberty X again, but as a three-piece girl group, without Tony and Kevin.[7] Since then, they continued touring at music festivals and Pride events.[8][9]
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 | Popstars | Contestant | Season 1 |
| 2013 | The Big Reunion | Herself | |
| Title | Year | Other artists | Album |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Go Go" | 2004 | Billy Crawford | Big City |
| "All I Want for Christmas Is You" |
2007 | — | Britain Sings Christmas |
- "'Big Reunion' stars return to the stage". Digital Spy. 27 February 2013. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
- Corner, Lewis (21 October 2016). "Whatever happened to Liberty X?". Digital Spy. Retrieved 17 June 2021.
- Thursday, 18 October 2012 (18 October 2012). "ITVS to reform pop bands for The Big Reunion". Broadcast. Retrieved 18 October 2012.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - Goodacre, Kate (18 October 2012). "Atomic Kitten, 5ive, B*Witched, 911, more to reunite for ITV2 show". Digital Spy.
- Harvey, Joanna (18 October 2012). "Atomic Kitten, 5ive, Liberty X, 911, B*Witched and The Honeyz are all to reunite for ITV2 show The Big Reunion". Daily Mirror.
- "Atomic Kitten and 5ive set to reform for ITV2's The Big Reunion". Metro. UK. 18 October 2012.
- Bychawski, Adam (18 January 2017). "Liberty X are reforming as a girl band". NME. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
- Sigodo, Melissa (18 August 2021). "Where Liberty X are now, what they look like and net worths". MyLondon.
- Benson, Rhianna (5 July 2022). "Michelle Heaton admits 'Booze gave me the confidence to perform with Liberty X'". OK!. Retrieved 10 July 2022.