5ive Five Boy Band

Five or 5ive is a boy band from London. They formed at the end of the 90’s when all of the other boy bands (Backstreet Boys, N Sync, 98 Degrees, etc.) were forming. The band consisted of Scott Robinson, Ritchie Neville, Sean Conlon, Abs Breen, and Jason “J” Brown.

The band was created when an advertisement went into a performing arts paper. The same people who created The Spice Girls (by advertising in a paper) thought it was time for a male group. I guess they meant a male group in the U.K. as there were tons of boy bands in the states.

Once the band was formed and the final five were chosen, they were signed by Simon Cowell. Good things usually happen when you’re associated with Simon Cowell.

The group Five sold millions of records. The band released three studio albums and thirteen singles. Their debut album, Five, was number one in the UK, Belgium, and the Netherlands. It placed in the top ten around Europe. Their next two studio albums did okay in Europe. The boys never really hit it big in the U.S. Maybe that’s because they turned down an ‘N Sync song. Read one.

Trivia

• Russell Brand auditioned for the group.
• Abs is actually a Richard. He changed his name to Abs (based on his middle name Abidin) to avoid having two Richard’s in the group. I think Richard Neville went as Ritchie most of the time, so….
• The group ended up rehearsing in the same place as the Spice Girls.
• The group was scheduled to tour with NSync but came home to rest instead. I guess they were exhausted. Hard work will do that to you.
• Five was supposed to record Baby One More Time but the writer decided to give it to Britney Spears instead.
• The group turned down Bye Bye Bye. It was offered to them first but they made fun of it and turned it down. Dumb Dumb Dumb.

 

The group disbanded in 2001 but have tried to reunite in recent years. Five became a four piece (so would that be 4our?) and is currently a three-piece group. Ummm…..but they’re still called 5ive?

Current Members

Sean Kieran Conlon, born May 20, 1981 in England, is still a member of the group Five. He co-wrote a Boyzone song which was released in 2011. Conlon auditioned for The Voice UK but didn’t advance. Oops. He is currently married and has a daughter.

Richard Neville Dobson, born August 23, 1979 in England, continues to be a member of the group Five. He moved to Australia in 2004 and has since opened a couple of restaurants. Neville was married for four months to an Australian model. Reports indicate that he wasn’t such a nice guy. The scar above his (ex) wife’s eye is suspicious. Ritchie Neville started dating a member of Atomic Kitten in 2013. The couple broke up in 2016 but they now have a daughter together.

Scott James Timothy Robinson, born November 22, 1979 in England, continues to be a member of the boy band. When Five initially split up in 2001, Robinson became one of the leads in the UK touring musical of Boogie Nights 2. He and his wife were married the day after Five broke up. No use wasting any time! The couple have two sons and twin daughters.

Past Members

Richard Abidin Breen, born June 29, 1979 in London, was the lead singer of Five. Known as Abs Breen during his boy band days, he now goes by Abz Love. Simon Cowell signed Breen as a solo artist once the group broke up in 2001.  Abs released the album Abstract Theory in 2003 which produced three top ten hits in the UK.

Jason Paul “J” Brown, born June 13, 1976 in England, was the oldest member of the boy band Five and quit the group because he no longer wanted to be in the public eye. I would never ever want to be famous. That must be so awful.  I can’t even begin to imagine how horrible that must be. I can relate to this guy.

Were any of you fans of this group? Do you have anything juicy to add to my post? Feel free to leave me a comment and then head on over to my eBay store to check out my pinups for sale.