| the Stunners | |
|---|---|
 | |
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Name |
the Stunners |
|
Genre |
Pop/Hip Hop/Dance |
|
Years Active |
2007-2011 |
|
Members |
Tinashe Allie Gonino Hayley Kiyoko Marisol Esparza Lauren Hudson |
the Stunners[]
The Stunners (stylized as the Stunners) were a 5 person all girl pop/dance band. Members of the band were Allie Gonino, Hayley Kiyoko, Lauren Hudson, Marisol Esparza, and Tinashe Kachingwe. Past members include Kelsey Sanders.
History[]
The original 5 members, Allie, Hayley, Kelsey, Marisol, and Tinashe, all coming from diverse acting, dance, and musical backgrounds, came together to create the Stunners. The girls defined 'the Stunners' as "5 strong, talented, unique, sometimes naughty, sometimes nice, always entertaining, real, and definitely sassy girls. Guaranteed, you will never find another group like us. We are able to bring something fresh and new to the table, something that has never been done before, and each one of us is undeniably different. Before we came together, we each had been working around L.A. individually, pursuing acting careers, solo music careers, and sometimes even stints in other generic/boring girl groups that only put us to sleep. … so we created The Stunners!" (Quoted from official website)
2007-2008[]
Former American singer Vitamin C approached each member about joining an "all-girl singing and dancing group." They were discovered by SONY/Columbia Records in 2007 and signed later in 2008. Their first release was their single "Bubblegum", followed by a remake of "Let's Hear it For the Boy", featured on the iCarly soundtrack.
2009-Now[]
The group left Columbia Records and signed with Lionsgate Entertainment to develop a mini show around them. While MTV had picked up the show, nothing came of the deal. In December 2009, the girls wrote a holiday song titled "Santa Bring My Soldier Home" to honor the families with family away in the armed forces for the holidays. It was at this time that Kelsey Sanders decided to pursue her acting career and departed the group. Lauren Hudson was introduced as the new fifth member soon after Sanders' departure.
In October 2010, the Stunners released their self-titled EP which included singles "We've Got It" and "Dancin' Around the Truth". They self-directed the music video for the former and released the latter under Universal Republic Records. They opened for Justin Bieber's My World Tour and completed 20 shows during the tour. Immediately, the girls were pegged as the girl group to watch of 2010. The group released a self-directed music video of their song, "Spin the Bottle" in December 2010 on their YouTube page and announced plans to work on their first full album. News leaked of a new single penned by Allie and Tinashe titled "Heart Stops Beating."
On March 16, 2011, Tinashe announced her departure to pursue a solo career. On April 4, 2011, the band announced on their official Facebook page that the band had decided to go their separate ways.