Gingers+Jesus
| Gingers+Jesus | ||
|---|---|---|
| 250px | ||
| The group's line-up as of June 2011 | ||
| Background information | ||
| Formed | 2009 | |
| Origin | UK, Ireland, USA | |
| Genre | Hip-hop, Pop, RnB, MOR | |
| Instruments | Vocals | |
| Years active | 2009-2011 | |
| Label | Saturdays Records (May 2010-Present) | |
| Members | ||
Tyler Taylor Patricia Bevan |
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| Associated acts | ||
Edna Albaquerque Dakota Rain |
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Gingers+Jesus are a British based girlband known for their ever changing line-up. As of 2011, the group consist of Runcorn born rapper Tentrita, Welsh wartime rose Patricia Bevan and American former cheerleader Tyler Taylor. The group are also notable for the success of singles Period Drama (Paint the Town Red), It Sucks to Be Me and the #1 single Wannabe On Top.
Despite facing critical derision for their early commercial failures, including debut album Ghetto Cornetto, following the departure of breakout star Just Ginger the group found success with their second album DNC. Despite plans for a hiatus, the girlgroup announced plans for a third album in 2011.
History[edit | edit source]
Formation and Early Career[edit | edit source]
A manufactured band, Gingers+Jesus were put together in 2009 by Jesus who at the time served as the group's rapper. Despite recording a number of demos, no record labels took an interest in the five piece boy/girlband- in later interviews Ginger would admit this had spurred her on to prove the detractors wrong and that she had turned down her own television show to help the band succeed.
Their first single, the urban tinged Foo Foo was released with little fan-fare and was critically snubbed, described by one reviewer as 'nastier than Khia'. The group also went through problems at the time, with member Nicola Uggo being revealed to be a member of Missfit. She was kicked out of the band and Patricia Bevan was bought in as a replacement, beating out one other applicant in a nation wide search. Unfortunately, despite regrouping, the single flopped into the charts at a lowly #38 and fell out the next week.
Disappointing sales and personal disagreements caused problems within the group, mainly between the girls and Jesus. The latter was eventually kicked out of the band for sexually lewd acts towards Ginger, Tentrita, Pat and Bronagh O'Malley. Tentrita took his place as the group's rapper, finding more confidence in her Runcorn roots. They were all ready to return when Bronagh quit the group citing 'creative differences'- she and Jesus would later audition for Uraps Idol: Second Chance under the name Sinopia Skies, with Bronagh changing her name to Summerbreeze to escape the Gingers+Jesus stigma.
Having given up on launching their own career after numerous line-up changes, the three remaining members began to focus on writing songs for other artists. One result of these sessions was Killa Bitch (Song 4 Moodring) which was rejected by Moodring. The gingers decided to release it themselves as a single, and enlisted the help of Shamu the killer whale to promote the song. Whilst kidnapping the whale and launching 'National Kill A Bitch Day' did help the group get noticed the single still charted at #28 come the 12th of October.
At christmas the group made a new attempt to hit the charts with Fingered by a Snowman. Now joined by Bronagh O'Toole (ushered in to replace O'Malley) and Eliza Hornswaggle-Blythe who bought her way into the band. Eliza's father's funding managed to get the attention of Hollywood director Ross from FRIENDS who directed the "Fingered" video. The song beat their previous attempts and charted at #26 on the hard to crack christmas chart.
Ghetto Cornetto (2009-2010)[edit | edit source]
Following their first taste of success, Gingers+Jesus began to record their debut album Ghetto Cornetto. The album, named for a rhyming couplet in "Killa Bitch", was trailed by 'anthemic' Red Light Girls. The single was debuted on the God channel, getting more complaints than the channel had viewers, but the exposure managed to get the group a #1 single in the Netherlands where they filmed the video. The prostitution themed single initially charted at #21 in the UK and rose to #16 the next week, getting the group their first top twenty hit.
Ghetto Cornetto followed and charted at #13, with the next single announced as the closing track Our Moment Like Now, a power ballad with a key change and all the makings of an Idol winner's song. The group attempted to show a clean cut side in their bid for commercial success by dressing up as nuns and filming a dramatic and inspirational video in an abandoned theatre. It charted at #10, achieving the group's mission of reaching the top 10, and helped the album to reach the same spot.
In the wake of their newfound success the media latched onto Ginger as the star of the band, while there had been bad blood between her and the four other members for months, it wasn't until she put the group on hiatus to pursue a solon career that her four backing singers decided to make a move. They retaliated by kicking her out of the band and announced plans to strike while the iron was hot, replacing her with Edna Albaquerque, their next single was Sunday Roast with a new rap by Tentrita. The group ended the Ghetto Cornetto campaign on a high, finally cracking the top five when both Sunday Roast and Ghetto Cornetto charted at #4.
Following the single, the group put on The Ghettour Cornettour, supported by Dakota Rain and the corpse of Alicia Jones. The group rode a giant sanitary pad between dates in lieu of a tourbus and would premiere their next single Period Drama (Paint the Town Red) during this time. They would also write a number of songs for their second album during this tour, with Dakota becoming a member of their writing team.
DNC (2010-2011)[edit | edit source]
Period Drama (Paint the Town Red) would go on to become a fan favourite and naturally became the first single from the band's sophomore effort. The studio version had its debut on Radio 1, switched for the Esmeralda Dimuzio and Violetta DiNozzo duet I Didn't Mean It. This stunt caused the band to be blacklisted on BBC Radio. A high budget video and promotional campaign courtesy of Saturdays Records buoyed the single into the #2 spot.
DNC, the group's double album which explores two sides of the band, delicious and dark, was released a week in advance of the single, charting at #5 originally and rising to the #2 spot the next week. The album, which was critically slammed, combined experimental tracks such as 'Wharraloada' and club thumpers such as Period Drama (Paint the Town Red) on the dark side with sweet ballads and catchy pop tunes on the delicious side.
During this time Tentrita became the breakout star of the group, working on a number of side projects ranging from Moai with Dakota Rain to the Storm the Castle EP with Sisters Against Sisters Against Shitty Singers. She would also appear on singles by Wolf Wolfe, Fat Lady and Sarah Lawler on a song she wrote called Wannabe On Top. Despite her success as a soloist, Tentrita stated on numerous occasions that she had no plans to leave Gingers+Jesus and that they would remain her priority. In an interview with FHM, she would declare that "the band dies with me".
The group took on new management in late 2010 in the form of Jayne Collins Mac, who found a new girl Tyler Taylor to join the band. They got to work on creating a chart smash to get them their first UK #1 single. In the end after fruitless sessions they settled on recording the Tentrita penned 'Wannabe On Top' which had failed to chart when released by Sarah Lawler. The group also re-released DNC as DNDNC with a new disc of cover versions of commercially unsuccesful songs. The video for Wannabe On Top gained acclaim from the group's peers, but tragedy struck when they were asked to appear at the Happy New Year Show 2010.
Live on stage, Tentrita, Pat, Bronagh and Eliza were brutally murdered, with many believing at the time that it had been part of the performance, Tyler Taylor was the sole survivor and became a national hate figure. #Tyler2Die became a trending topic on twitter for two weeks. Despite the hatred for Tyler, Wannabe On Top managed to chart at #1 on the singles chart and DNDNC charted at #1 on the albums chart.
Tyler confirmed that Gingers+Jesus would release one final single It Sucks to Be Me, originally recorded by Alesha, in tribute to her bandmates. The single, released on the tenth anniversary of Urapopstar charted at #3 shortly after Tyler's bandmates were ressurected by Dakota Rain and Venus Vegas.
Tentrita, Pat and Tyler continued on as a three-piece and released Love is Pain, the final single from DNC. The radio edit was remixed by Will.i.am and features a sample of Cheryl Cole's vocals from the Girls Aloud song of the same name. The song was rush-released on May 30 2011 and charted at #4.
Adult Content (2011)[edit | edit source]
Following scrapped plans for a greatest hits and hiatus, Gingers+Jesus opted to release a third album Adult Content in 2011.
Band Members[edit | edit source]
Current Line-Up[edit | edit source]
Tentrita Troll (Born Tentrita Trinity Trina Troll, May 4 1990), Tentrita uses the pseudonym MC Tenty occasionally, but Tentrita remains her most infamous incarnation. The troll doll was born in Runcorn and is very close to her hometown- this caused much tension with ex-bandmate Ginger who was not keen on the place. Initially a vocalist with the group, after the departure of rapping frontman Jesus Tentrita took on MC duties to remain true to her roots. She still sings harmonies with the other girls, but prefers to rap or spit her own solo lines. Her looks have been widely criticised, which has lead to arguments with singers Danelle Becker and Violetta DiNozzo, these feuds were worsened when Tentrita formed a friendship with their rival Alicia Jones. After her hair was shaved off by Danelle Becker she has taken to wearing weaves.
Apart from her work with the band Tentrita has releases singles with Wolf Wolfe, Sarah Lawler and Dakota Rain, contributed vocals to a remix of Vanessa Flowers' single Loan Shark, performed on the b-side to Sexy Star's single Mr. G as well as Boris' album in tribute to Alicia Jones. She has attempted to crossover into TV work with limited success after 'Sunday Roast with Pat and Tentrita' was axed.
Bronagh BOT (Born Bronagh Niamh O'Toole, March 17 1980). Introduced claiming to be the same Bronagh as the one from the initial line-up, Bronagh was found in the same village as the other Bronagh, but played bass guitar instead of star shaped tamborine. She is married to Moodring star Bre Washington as of Mayday 2010, shortly after being accused of raping Butterscotch. She was involved ina car crash that led to her organs and limbs being replaced with robotic parts. She took the name BOT to reflect her new robotic body, as well as a form of rebellion against patriarchy, being fiercely feminist.
Apart from her work with Gingers+Jesus, Bronagh was the second eliminee from ITV realitv TV show Popstar to Native American Indian Chieftain, she has also worked extensively on a side project with wife Bre and has stated that bring in Gingers+Jesus is 'just a job' which she does not particularly enjoy.
Pat Bevan (Born Patricia Margaret Dorothy Bevan, October 12 1930). Pat auditioned for Gingers+Jesus in 2009, she beat out one other applicant to become a member in a huge nationwide search for the next ginger. She has a close friend in bandmate Tentrita and became a fashion icon whilst promoting Red Light Girls.
A former wartime rose, Pat had limited musical success before when she was a performer in the second world war. She has attempted to bolster a TV career, however her chat show 'Sunday Roast with Pat and Tentrita' flopped and was canned before the episode ended- she has now won a place on Taylor's sitcom Frarorities.
Eliza Avalon (Born Elizabeth Hornswaggle-Blythe II, February 26 1991). joined the band when her father bought her a place, after the group's management decided a five-piece would be optimal. She attended private school in Canterbury, where apparently she met Ginger, though she can't recall it, she puts it down to not really remembering anything from school after receiving a knock to her head after falling off her horse Buttercup. Eliza was briefly romanticaly linked to ex-band member Jesus after he said 'I'd do her' in an interview. She was linked to Kirby L. Avalon who dumped her for Cassie Garcia. They later got married in Vegas, which Kirby denies.
Tyler Taylor (Born Tyler Taylor, December 30 1987) joined during the promotion of Wannabe On Top and was previously signed to Saturdays as a solo artist. She had also experienced performing as a Cassie Fox impersonator but lost her job after prison beatings changed Cassie's face.
Former Band Members[edit | edit source]
Nicola Also known as Chloe, Nicola was fired when it was rumoured she was moonlighting as a member of Missfit.
Jesus 2009 years old. The son of God formed the group and was later forced out due to his sexually lewd attitude to the girls. He later commented that the group were pathetic, but that he would 'do Eliza'. In 2010 he resurfaced as one half of Sinopia Skies, applying for Second Chance Idol and claiming that he had recovered from his sex addiction.
Summerbreeze, formerly Bronagh O'Malley, she is the other half of Sinopia Skies now.
Shamu was a temporary addition to the group, Shamu featured on the follow up to 'Foo Foo', 'Killa Bitch' and was then returned home. Ginger claimed it was because they needed a welsh member, ignoring the fact Pat had been a part of the group for months.
Discography[edit | edit source]
Albums[edit | edit source]
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#4 - 2010
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#1 - 2010
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Awards and honors[edit | edit source]
Urapopstar Awards[edit | edit source]
| Ceremony | Nominated work | Award | Achievement |
|---|---|---|---|
| Urapopstar Awards 18 | Best Promotion | Won | |
| 2010 Video Music Awards | Sunday Roast | Best Collaborative Video | Nominated |
| Period Drama (Paint the Town Red) | Best Hip-Hop/R'n'B Video | Nominated | |
| Period Drama (Paint the Town Red) | Best Video by a Group or Band | Won | |
| Period Drama (Paint the Town Red) | Best Humorous Video | Nominated | |
| Urapopstar Awards 19 | Best Group | Nominated | |
| Urapopstar Awards 20 | Wannabe On Top | Best Video | Nominated |
