All Saints' biggest singles on the Official Chart revealed

Some comebacks shock you, some are inevitable. Many are exciting, while a few are unwelcome. But one comeback every pop fan can't help but be thrilled about is the return of All Saints.

The fourpiece were as famous for their spats and partying lifestyle as they were their brilliant hits, and they were never far from a celebrity magazine front page or, more interestingly, the top of the charts.

Mel, Nicole, Shaznay and Natalie are back again with their fifth album, Testament, this week. For the uninitiated, here's everything you need to know about All Saints, plus we unveil the group's best-selling singles.

They were originally a trio

All Saints' roots go back to 1993, when Mel and Shaznay and their pal Simone sang together as All Saints 1.9.7.5. The band took their name from the west London street where you could find Mel and Shaznay singing backing vocals in a studio there.

There was a single, Silver Shadow, which peaked at Number 92, then Simone left the band and the group carried on as a duo before losing their record deal. But it wasn't over yet: they soon recruited Nicole Appleton, who'd gone to school with Mel, then Nicole got her sister Natalie to join the group and All Saints as we know it today was born. Phew!

Their first hit

Although there would be attempts by early collaborators to make the girls clones of the Spice Girls – who were at their peak at the time – the group launched with the sassy pop track I Know Where It's At, whose video positioned them as very different from the Spices. And also established them as pop's leading supporter of cargo pants.

They looked a little bit tougher, kind of cooler and, let's face it, maybe not as friendly, but whatever they did worked. On 31 August 1997 – the day Princess Diana died, coincidentally – All Saints scored their first top 10 hit when I Know Where It's At went in at Number 4.

They've got a million seller

It was with second single Never Ever that things really got going. The slick ballad spent eight weeks in the Top 10 before finally grabbing the top spot in January 1998, their first Number 1. Never Ever spent a whopping 15 weeks in the Top 10 alone, and is a million-seller – over 1.37 million copies sold so far.

Their debut album was popular too – over 1.46 million of you took that one home.

They've won two BRIT Awards

Never Ever really was the big one. It scored them two BRIT Awards in 1998, for Best Video and another for Best Single.

They've had five Number 1s

It didn't end with Never Ever. The silky-voiced quartet would go on to land four more chart-toppers: a cover of Red Hot Chili Peppers' Under The Bridge, backed with a cover of LaBelle's Lady Marmalade, was next and hit Number 1 TWICE! Bootie Call (1998), Pure Shores and Black Coffee (both 2000) complete their clutch of chart-toppers.

Pure Shores was another monster hit – it was the second biggest selling single of 2000, behind Bob The Builder's Can We Fix It? (Yes, really.)

MORE: See All Saints' UK hit singles and albums in their Official Chart archive

Three of them were in a movie

Nic, Nat and Mel appeared in Honest, a black comedy set in Sixties London and directed by Eurythmics' Dave Stewart. It wasn't a big success, but The Times called it a "cult classic".

It all went a bit wrong, tbh

The four women had very strong personalities and were notorious for behind-the-scenes scraps. The crunch came in 2001, when two of the members had a ruck over a jacket that both wanted to wear in a photoshoot. Shaznay said later: "I would never in a million years have put money on the group ending over a jacket incident. But when that incident happened, it fired up so strong, it had to be over." Iconic.

They've all had chart success outside the band

Mel was first, teaming up with Artful Dodger on Top 10 hit Twenty4Seven in 2001.

Next up were Nic and Nat, who branded themselves as Appleton (understandably) and had two Top 10s, kicking off with Fantasy in 2002.

Last to dip her talented toe in solo waters was Shaznay Lewis. She scored a Top 10 with Never Felt Like This Before in 2004.

This is their third comeback

Miraculously, the quartet put their jacket-based animosity behind them and became friends again and found themselves with a new record deal. The band released the very good comeback track Rock Steady, which went Top 3, but reunion album Studio 1 didn't match previous success and the band eventually parted ways again. Mel has later said that this reunion didn't feel right, but they were mates again, and that's what counts.

They kind of reformed again

In 2014, the band got back together to do a series of live shows in support of the Backstreet Boys in the UK and Ireland. There was no new music, but hanging out together inspired the ladies and they began writing and recording again.

Testament

Following 2016's Number 3-peaking Red Flag album, All Saints are back this Friday with Testament, led by trailer single Love Lasts Forever. The quartet have also been back in the studio with Pure Shores/Black Coffee producer William Orbit for a couple of the tracks, and the results are very good indeed.

Their official best selling singles are…

No surprise to see Never Ever on top with 1.37m sales and 10.5m streams, but how did the rest of their hits fare?

Pure Shores finishes second place with 824,000 sales, but is in fact their most streamed song with 13m plays. At the lower end, 2016 comeback track One Strike sneaks in at Number 10 and is their third most streamed single to date. 

©2018 Official Charts Company. All rights reserved.

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