The Cheetah Girls (band)

The Cheetah Girls
The Cheetah Girls at The Magnificent Mile 2008
Background information
Origin	United States
Genres	Pop, R&B, Hip Hop
Years active	2003–2008
Labels	Walt Disney (2005-2008) Hollywood (2006-2008)
Associated acts	Belinda Peregrín, 3LW,
Website	www.tcgmusic.com/
Past members
Adrienne Bailon (2003-2008) Sabrina Bryan (2003-2008) Kiely Williams (2003-2008)Raven Symone (2003-2006))

The Cheetah Girls were an American girl group consisting of Adrienne Bailon, Sabrina Bryan and Kiely Williams. The group was created by The Walt Disney Company, and made famous by the eponymous Disney Channel original film and its sequels, The Cheetah Girls 2 and The Cheetah Girls: One World. The group has released three studio albums, Cheetah-licious Christmas, In Concert: The Party's Just Begun Tour, and TCG and several RIAA certified Platinum albums including, The Cheetah Girls, The Cheetah Girls 2, and The Cheetah Girls: One World. All of their albums and soundtracks have debuted in the Billboard 200. The soundtrack to their first movie sold over 2 million copies.

The group has launched a clothing line, several perfume collections, doll lines, room decor, a book series, and a video games line. The group has had three nationwide tours, Cheetah-licious Christmas Tour, The Party's Just Begun Tour and One World Tour. The Cheetah Girls grossed over USD $43 million from their second tour.^[1][2]

Career

The group had a television movie, based on a bestselling series of young adult books of the same name by Deborah Gregory, was debuted on August 15, 2003. The film won several awards including Black Reel awards, an Image Award. The movie's DVD sold over 800,000 copies.^[3] The film received over 84 million viewers worldwide and remained a hit in the ratings for months afterwards. The Cheetah Girls were also supposed to be a TV series for ABC in their 2004-2005 season.^[4] The show was to begin production in early 2004, according to an article on the MTV news site, but according to another article on MTV News website in February 2004, it said The Cheetah Girls sitcom had been delayed, due to the success of That's So Raven.^[5] Therefore, Raven would not be able to do the series. Although a pilot was shot in late 2003, ABC decided not to pick up the series.

Due to her busy schedule, as well as already being signed to the same label (Hollywood Records) as a solo act, Raven-Symoné decided not to be a part of the actual recording act, leaving the trio of just Bailon, Bryan and Williams. In January 2005, the girls recorded for the first time as a trio and recording act for the 2005 DisneyMania 3 album, remaking the song "I Won't Say (I'm in Love)" from the Hercules soundtrack.

The girls released their first recording in October, 2005 under Walt Disney Records, Cheetah-licious Christmas, the holiday album included classic Christmas songs, as well as several original songs, one of which was co-written by all three girls. The album peaked at number 74 on the Billboard 200 albums chart. The lead single, "Cheetah-licious Christmas", was rotated on Radio Disney and a music video for the song was shown on Disney Channel. A second single from the album, "Five More Days 'Til Christmas" was released as a Radio Disney-only single. The girls went on tour to support the album that fall. Along with Aly & AJ as the opening act and The Jonas Brothers as special guests, the tour was successful.

The Cheetah Girls began work on their debut album in January 2006. However, when filming and recording for The Cheetah Girls 2 came up, the album was put on hold. "We'll be making a real album, not a soundtrack", Adrienne Bailon says. "Some of the music on there will be produced by will.i.am from The Black Eyed Peas", she says. "It's important for people to see us as a real musical group. We have all this great marketing around us, with the movies and other things. But we are a musical group."

The Cheetah Girls 2 premiere received a total of over 8.1 million viewers, making it the highest rated premiere for a Disney Channel Original Movie at the time.

In an interview with Billboard about the postponed album, Sabrina Bryan stated that the girls worked on writing for the album on their Party's Just Begun tour and that they hoped to gather an audience of older fans while simultaneously staying true to their younger fan base.^[6] Bryan also stated that the girls would work with producers they've worked with in the past as well as exploring new producers, such as Timbaland.^[6]

The album was originally titled Who We Are,^[7] and set to be released on June 19, 2007^[8] but this was postponed to September 25, 2007, with a release name of TCG.

The track "So Bring It On" was released as the album's first single. "Fuego" was released as the second single from the album.

Break-up

The girls began filming their third Cheetah Girls movie, entitled The Cheetah Girls: One World, in March 2008. It is the only movie not to feature Raven-Symone and premiered on August 22, with its soundtrack released on August 19. The movie debuted with 6.2 million viewers, the lowest-ever rated premiere for the series. In the fall of 2008, the group went on tour to support the One World movie, which would be their last tour together. In December 2008, the group disbanded.

All three girls are currently working on solo records. Bryan released a book titled Princess of Gossip in 2009, had a small supporting role in the straight-to-dvd film Mostly Ghostly, released another fitness DVD called Byou 2, and had a part in the indie film If It Ain't Broke, Break It.^[9] Both Williams and Bailon had small roles in 2008 film Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, with Bryan making a cameo in the form of a set of her Byou DVDs on display. Williams played a supporting role in the film The House Bunny starring Anna Farris. Williams filmed the music video for her first single Make Me A Drink in New York City in November 2008,^[10] which was later scrapped in favor of a promotional single titled Spectacular.^[11] The album is scheduled to be released in 2011. Bailon's solo album is also scheduled for a 2011 release on Island Def Jam Records.^[12] In early 2009, Williams and Bryan talked about collaborating on a talk show together, which Williams described as "a young version of The View".^[13] The pilot for Dinner with Friends was filmed in May 2011.

Filmography

Discography

Main article: The Cheetah Girls discography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2003	The Cheetah Girls	The Cheetah Girls Raven-Symoné as Galleria Garibaldi, Adrienne Bailon as Chanel Simmons, Sabrina Bryan as Dorinda Thomas and Kiely Williams as Aquanetta Walker	Filmed in Toronto, Canada and Manhattan, New York.
2006	The Cheetah Girls 2	The Cheetah Girls [Raven-Symoné as Galleria Garibaldi, Adrienne Bailon as Chanel Simmons, Sabrina Bryan as Dorinda Thomas and Kiely Williams as Aquanetta Walker]	Filmed in Barcelona, Spain.
2008	The Cheetah Girls: One World	The Cheetah Girls [Adrienne Bailon as Chanel Simmons, Sabrina Bryan as Dorinda Thomas and Kiely Williams as Aquanetta Walker]	Filmed in Udaipur, India.
Studio albums Year Studio Album 2007 TCG Soundtracks albums Year Soundtrack 2003 The Cheetah Girls 2006 The Cheetah Girls 2 2008 The Cheetah Girls: One World Other Albums Year Live Album 2005 Cheetah-licious Christmas 2007 In Concert: The Party's Just Begun Tour EPs Year EP 2007 TCG EP 2008 The Cheetah Girls Soundcheck Merchandise Main article: The Cheetah Girls merchandise There are Cheetah Girl based clothing lines, toys, and video games. The clothing line was made available in Sears stores, and its launch was the most successful in Sears history. Videos games have been produced for GBA and Nintendo DS, as well as a dancemat game. Toy instruments have been produced for the children's market. The Cheetah Girls also have a doll line, released in 2007, inspired by the Disney Channel Original Movies (DCOMs). There are several versions of the dolls and the three members. The dolls are currently available at Sears stores nationwide and several other retailers. Miscellaneous Book series For further information see: The Cheetah Girls (book series) The Cheetah Girls started as a book series that was written by Deborah Gregory. There are two versions of the Cheetah Girls book series. The original, which was the inspiration for the first movie, and the other by Disney authors released as movie tie-ins. DVDs The Disney Channel Original Movies, and the concert DVD, are released with The Cheetah Girls 2 Special Edition Soundtrack. A 20 minute highlights DVD of the Girls' The Party's Just Begun Tour was released on July 10, 2007 along with a live audio CD of the tour. The first DVD released has sold over 800,000 copies.[14] The Cheetah Girls have also released a Calirfornia Adventures DVD and two compilation DVDs, DisneyMania 3 in Concert and Radio Disney's Totally 15th Birthday. Toothbrushes In 2006, The Cheetah Girls released a toothbrush modeled after them. The toothbrush features a picture of The Cheetah Girls and plays a clip of their single "Shake a Tail Feather". It was one of the most popular toothbrushes for all girls in 2006, the top being a spinning, singing Barbie toothbrush. Awards National Association for Multi-ethnicity in Communications Awards' Best Music Video Award (2007, Strut)[15] Tours See: The Cheetah Girls tours Cheetah-licious Christmas Tour In the winter of 2005, The Cheetah Girls went on tour to support their Christmas album Cheetah-licious Christmas. Aly & AJ went along with them, as the opening act, to support their own album Into the Rush, although the Jonas Brothers performed as surprise guests opening for both The Cheetah Girls and Aly & AJ for a total of 10 shows of the tour, promoting It's About Time, their first album. The holiday theme of the concert included giant presents (in which the Cheetah Girls performed in), Winter clothes, and even a tropical theme for their song "Christmas in California", which included surf boards with the girls' names on them. The Cheetah Girls also sang songs from the first Cheetah Girls soundtrack, their song "I Won't Say (I'm in Love)" (from DisneyMania 3), and their version of "Shake a Tail Feather" (from the Chicken Little soundtrack). The Party's Just Begun Tour In July 2006, the girls stated to Disney 365, a brief Disney Channel So Hot Summer news program, that they would be hitting the road again in September 2006, however they didn't state whether or not Raven-Symoné would be joining them. However, in a later interview they confirmed that Raven would not be going with them. An ad inside of the Cheetah Girls 2 soundtrack confirmed the name of the tour to be The Party's Just Begun Tour. The concert was released to a live CD and DVD combo on July 10, 2007. The opening acts for the tour were Miley Cyrus (as Hannah Montana) for the first 20 dates, Vanessa Hudgens for the next 20 dates, and Everlife for the last 40 dates. Jordan Pruitt was also a special guest on the tour for the first 40 cities. The preteen group T-Squad was also a special guest for 5 of the 58 dates. The concert tour sold out every date. For the tour's finale the group performed in Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas with Miley Cyrus as their opening act. Within 3 minutes, the concert had already sold 80,000 tickets. The One World Tour The girls announced their third tour in the summer of 2008. The tour, entitled the One World Tour began in October 2008 and is in support of the trio's third soundtrack from their Disney Channel film The Cheetah Girls: One World. Bailon stated in an interview that it was likely that this tour would travel to various other countries as well as the United States. Corbin Bleu was originally announced as the opening act for the tour but due to his busy schedule could not continue with the duties. The Clique Girlz were announced as the official opening act for the tour just days before it began. References ^ 2007 most Powerful Girls list ^ [1] ^ [2] ^ 3LW To Star In TV 'Cheetah Girls' - News Story Music, Celebrity, Artist News | MTV News ^ 3LW's Adrienne Bailon In 'Coach Carter' - Movie News Story MTV Movie News ^ a b Sabrina Bryan Interview with Billboard ^ Adrienne in Hip-Hop Weekly ^ www.tommy2.net ^ Sabrina Bryan on IMDB ^ Kiely Williams Solo Single Announced ^ Music Video: Kiely Williams - Spectacular ^ Adrienne Bailon Signs Solo Deal with Island Def Jam ^ Kiely Williams EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW April 9, 2009 ^ Multi Channel ^ Scholastic News Accessed 2007-04-13 External links Official site on Hollywood Records Official site on Walt Disney Records Adrienne Bailon at the Internet Movie Database Kiely Williams at the Internet Movie Database Sabrina Bryan at the Internet Movie Database The Cheetah Girls (band) on Myspace