The Dream is over, so to speak, for Melissa.
While appearing as a guest host on Wednesday's (April 3) "TRL," P. Diddy announced a lineup change for Dream, his Bad Boy Records girl group. Seventeen-year-old Melissa Schuman, whom P.D. referred
to as "one of the older members" of the group, has left to pursue an acting career. P. Diddy later told MTV News that there was "really nothing more" to Melissa's departure and that there were no hard feelings.
Melissa was the last girl to join Dream's original lineup, entering as a friend of group member Holly Blake. As pop legend now has it, the girls were performing at a showcase in Beverly Hills in early 2000 when they were spotted by the man then known as Puffy, who immediately offered them a deal with Bad Boy. They went on to score a #2 hit with their first single, "He Loves U Not," selling more than 1.5 million copies of their debut album, It Was All a Dream, and taking part in last summer's "TRL" tour.
Although Melissa has left, the remaining members — Holly, Diana Ortiz and Ashley Poole — are already about halfway finished with their second album, which Bad Boy hopes to release by the fall. They've got an A-list of writers and producers working with them, including the Neptunes, Rodney Jerkins, 'NSYNC's right-hand man, Wade Robson, and P. Diddy himself. A single is expected out late this summer.
And what about that vacant fourth spot in the lineup? P. Diddy said they've had auditions and have narrowed it down to a few girls, but there's also a chance that Dream may continue on as a trio.
—John Norris
This report is from MTV News.
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