Danity Kane

Danity Kane is an American girl group signed to Bad Boy Records, first established in 2005. Formed on the third installment of MTV's Making the Band reality television series, the quintet is comprised of singers and songwriters Shannon Bex, Aundrea Fimbres, Aubrey O'Day, Dawn Richard, and Wanita "D. Woods" Woodgette.

Their self-titled debut studio album was released in 2006 and achieved success in the United States, selling more than a million copies domestically, while spawning two singles with top 10 hit "Show Stopper" and the ballad "Ride for You." Danity Kane's second studio album, Welcome to the Dollhouse, was released on March 18, 2008 following the release of the Billboard top 10 hit single "Damaged".

History

Making the Band 3

In 2004, producer Sean Combs returned with Making the Band 3, this time searching for the next female super group. With the help of choreographer Laurie Ann Gibson, vocal trainer Doc Holiday and talent manager Johnny Wright himself he set out on a multi city search, subsequently finding 20 young singers. While seven girls remained, Diddy grew more and more unhappy with the level of talent throughout the season, and eventually decided not to form a band. He did however give a reprieve to three contestants who he felt deserved another chance, including Aubrey O'Day and Aundrea Fimbres, who all appear on the forgiving season.

Afterwards Diddy once again kicked his team across the table to audition new girls for the group. Finally seven girls were chosen and moved into a loft in New York City. After weeks of dance and singing lessons, promotional appearances, and a performance in front of 10,000 at a Backstreet Boys concert at Nissan Pavilion in Bristow, VA, eleven girls remained. The finalists were sent home for three months, told to polish up, and return for the final stretch in November 2005.

On the second season's finale on Monday, November 15, 2005, five of the eleven were chosen: Aundrea Fimbres, Aubrey O'Day, Dawn Angelique Richard, Shannon Bex, and Wanita Woodgette. The final five members of the group in place, Making the Band 3 tracked the development and struggles of the new band - from then on known as Danity Kane (a name taken from a female anime superhero conceived by Dawn).

Danity Kane

Members of Danity Kane (from left) Shannon Bex, Aubrey O'Day, and Dawn Richard

After months of recording the band's debut album, Danity Kane, was released to mixed reviews on August 22, 2006 in the United States. Produced by Timbaland, Scott Storch, Rodney Jerkins, Mario Winans and Ryan Leslie among others, the album sold over 90,000 copies in the first day of release, and over 234,000 in the first week of release. It eventually debuted at number one on the Billboard 200, knocking veteran Christina Aguilera's Back to Basics from the top spot and out-selling hip-hop duo OutKast. The album received a platinum certification from the RIAA in November 2006.

The album's lead and title single "Show Stopper", produced by Jim Jonsin, was serviced to radio on August 4, 2006, and subsequently debuted at number 17 on Billboard's Hot 100; it however peaked at number 8 on that particular chart. Outside the United States, the song became a top 30 success in Germany and Lithuania. The selection for the album's second single, Bryan Michael Cox produced "Ride for You", was influenced by a fan poll that went around through e-mails, MySpace, and the group's official web site. The music video for the song premiered on MTV's Total Request Live on December 5, 2006, the same day the band released a holiday song called "Home for Christmas" which was written by group member Dawn Richard.

February 2007 to May 2007 Danity Kane performed as an opening act, along with the Pussycat Dolls, on Christina Aguilera's Back To Basics Tour. In the meantime the band intensified work on their second album, which was initially scheduled for a late 2007 release, but eventually pushed back to 2008.

Hiatus and rumored break-up

In the summer of 2007, speculation by fans and the media circled the internet and entertainment news outlets concerning the possibility of Danity Kane splitting up. The rumors were fueled by quotes taken out of context (most notably when Aubrey O'Day was questioned by TMZ about her relationship to the successful pop girl group the Pussycat Dolls and their television show Pussycat Dolls Present: The Search for the Next Doll) and by work the group members have done outside of Danity Kane since the release of their debut album. D. Woods' association with another girl group, The Girl's Club, was specifically cited as adding credibility to break-up rumors. Additionally, reports of solo careers and of new groups forming from various combinations of members of the group were rampant. Over the course of these rumors, the members of Danity Kane often published personal online responses to the break-up speculation. It was not until July 25, 2007 that Danity Kane released an official statement on their group MySpace page stating that they were still together and working on their second album.

Making the Band 4 and Welcome to the Dollhouse

While making several solo appearances on other artist's albums during fall 2007, Danity Kane recorded a song entitled "2 of You", which was to be featured on Step Up 2 soundtrack, but didn't make the cut, it was later released on their second album. Meanwhile, the quintet was featured on the second season of the fourth iteration of Making the Band which debuted January 28, 2008 on MTV, where solo singer Donnie Klang, Day26, and the girls, themselves, lived and recorded their albums together.

On January 18 2008 Atlantic Records launched a poll through their website to decide which of two songs would become Danity Kane's lead single off their second studio album, Welcome to the Dollhouse. The winner of the poll was "Damaged," beating out "Pretty Boy", and was officially released as a digital single on January 29. Welcome to the Dollhouse, was eventually released on March 18, 2008 in the United States, where it debuted at number 1 of the Billboard 200, with first week sales of 236,000 copies (2,000 units more than their self-titled debut album). The album eventually recieved a gold certification from the RIAA in April 2008. In a May 2008 interview with Kiwibox.com, Danity Kane revealed that the follow up single to "Damaged" would be "Bad Girl."

On the second season finale of Making the Band 4, it was announced that Danity Kane would be headlining a tour in 2008 and be featured on the next season of Making the Band, as Diddy stated himself. The third season and final season of Making the Band 4 will begin to air on MTV, August 13, 2008.

Discography

Main article: Danity Kane discography

Albums

• 2006: Danity Kane
• 2008: Welcome to the Dollhouse

Singles

• 2006: "Show Stopper" (feat. Yung Joc)
• 2006: "Ride for You"
• 2008: "Damaged"
• 2008: "Bad Girl" (feat. Missy Elliot)

Tours

• 2007: Back to Basics Tour
• 2008: Making the Band Tour

Awards and nominations

Year	Award
2006	Urban Music Award Won for "Best Group - Female"
2007	Poptastic Award Nominated for "Best Ringtone (for "Showstopper")"
2007	Soul Train Music Award Nominated for "Best R&B/ Album Group, Band or Duo"
2008	BET Award Nominated for Best Group
2008	Teen Choice Award Nominated Best R&B Track for "Damaged"
2008	MTV Video Music Awards Nomination Best Pop Video for "Damaged"

See also

• Making the Band, Season 3 episodes

External links

• Official Danity Kane website
• Danity Kane at LyricWiki
• Template:MySpace
• Danity Kane interview by Rashmi Shastri
• The DJ Booth: Danity Kane Interview (Apr '07)
• Kiwibox.com Danity Kane Interview May 2008

Biographical or discographical

• Chart History at Billboard.com