Bio
Amelle Berrabah (born 22 April 1984), also known as Amelle, is a British singer, best known for being a former member of the girl group the Sugababes, replacing founding member Mutya Buena, who left the group in December 2005. She achieved a solo number one single in 2009 when she collaborated with Tinchy Stryder on their single "Never Leave You", which made her the first and, to date, the only member of the Sugababes to achieve a number-one single outside of the group.
Following Mutya Buena's departure from Sugababes, Berrabah was brought in as a replacement by the group's management. Their manager had seen Berrabah perform at an American showcase a few years prior in 2003 and Berrabah had impressed him. As soon as Buena left, he gave Berrabah a call about the opportunity and got her to record three songs to audition for remaining members Keisha Buchanan and Heidi Range. They liked the demos and Berrabah was then announced as the newest member of the trio.[1][7] The first single to feature Berrabah's vocals, "Red Dress", entered the UK Singles Chart at number four.[2] Taller in More Ways was re-released in early 2006 with re-recorded vocals by Berrabah. Because of the hastiness of the replacement, she could only re-record vocals for three of the tracks on the album.[7] She also contributed the song, "Now You're Gone" to the new track listing. They performed the 2007 Comic Relief single with fellow girl band, Girls Aloud, "Walk This Way",[8] which went to number one.[9] On 28 April 2007, Berrabah was arrested over allegations that she had assaulted a girl on the dancefloor in a club.[2][3] No charges were brought.[5]
The first single from their album Change, the Dr. Luke-produced "About You Now", topped the UK Singles Chart for four weeks. In October 2007, Change became the group's second UK Albums Chart number one, giving the group the top position on the singles and albums charts simultaneously.[3] Berrabah was credited with co-writing five songs on the album. Berrabah was arrested again on 10 January 2008 on suspicion of causing criminal damage and a public order offence. The arrest was made in connection with an alleged attack on a car in her hometown of Aldershot on 9 January 2008.[3] The charges were quickly dropped when it was revealed that she was not even in town at the time.[5] Despite announcing a break after the Change tour, the group quickly began working on Catfights and Spotlights, which was released in late 2008 and became their lowest charting album at the time.