What The Hell Happened To A*Teens + Other Early 2000s Pop Acts You Forgot About?
If you were a youth between 1998 and 2002, then names like A*Teens, B*Witched, and Willa Ford are both recognizable and hold deep meaning to you. These were the artists you listened to when you needed a break from your Britney Spears-and-*NSYNC flow. The aforementioned acts had songs that were catchy AF and gave 13-year-old you gallons of life; however, they were forgettable, which explains why many of these stars had blink-and-you'll-miss-'em careers. Sad, but such a cold-hard truth.
Even still, we stan hard for the beloved B-listers of the bubblegum pop era. What are some of its key players doing rn, you ask? Well...some are still trying to relive the good 'ole days. Some went the acting and reality TV route. And some teach pole dancing. This is not a drill.
We did some digging and found out what nine of millennial pop's silver-medal acts are up to these days. Warning: Nostalgia and cringe-worthy relevancy grabs ahead.
A*Teens
The Swedish pop group/ABBA tribute band, known for sticky-and-sweet hits like "Upside Down" and "Can't Help Falling In Love," *~officially~* broke up in 2006. The group's four members, Marie Serneholt, Amit Sebastian Paul, Dhani Lennevald and Sara Lumholdt have experienced (quasi) success since parting ways. Marie took a hiatus from music directly after A*Teens to do some modeling and film work. (She even lent her voice to the Swedish versions of Robots and Herbie: Fully Loaded.) She returned to pop in 2006 with her single "That's The Way My Heart Goes" and album Enjoy the Ride. Both achieved mild success in Sweden. She was a judge on the Swedish version of X Factor in 2012 and most recently competed in Let's Dance 2015. Dhani released one single post-A*Teens, 2004's "Girl Talk," which received heavy rotation in Sweden. He now works as a music producer and songwriter, according to his Instagram. In 2007, Sara released a cover of Olivia Newton-John's "Physical" for a Swedish clothing company and later debuted a successful solo track,"Glamour Bitch." She now hosts the Swedish X Factor after-show Xtra Factor and sometimes teaches pole dancing (yup). Amit's kept a relatively low profile since leaving A*Teens.
B*Witched
Who could forget the musical stylings of twins Edele and Keavy Lynch, Lindsay Armaou, and Sinéad O'Carroll? B*Witched reunited on the ITV2 docuseries The Big Reunion in 2012, which followed six defunct groups as they rehearsed for a comeback performance. The show's success led to a brief 2013 European tour and a new EP from B*Witched, Champagne or Guinness, in 2014. Edele appeared on both Celebrity Apprentice Ireland and Celebrity Big Brother in 2013 and 2014, respectively; Keavy is now the lead singer of a British band called The Collection; Lindsay is an actress, whose latest film Daisy comes out in December; and Sinead hasn't performed since her B*Witched days, focusing on other business ventures.
Vitamin C
Following her "Graduation (Friends Forever)" reign, Vitamin C opted for the behind-the-scenes life. She formed The Stunners, a pop group that included Tinashe, in 2007. VC also wrote Disney and Nickelodeon tunes for Demi Lovato, Selena Gomez, Miley Cyrus/Hannah Montana, and Emma Roberts. You can now find Colleen Fitzpatrick (her real name) roaming the halls of Nickelodeon as its Vice President of Music. (From pop star to HBIC, am I right?)
Hoku
The two-hit wonder ("Perfect Day" and "Another Dumb Blonde," duh!) released a blip-on-the-radar EP, Listen Up, in August 2007. She also opened some shows for Gwen Stefani later that month. She randomly got a Twitter in 2009, but it hasn't been touched in six years. These days, Hoku is enjoying the private family life with husband/former manager Jeremy Clements and their child Téa. She started a baby blog in 2010, but you have to be invited to read it. (Fun fact: Hoku married Jeremy in 1999... when she was 18 and at the cusp of Snow Day domination. Queen.)
Samantha Mumba
If you didn't jam to "Baby Come On Over" or "Gotta Tell You" religiously in 2002, then you're actually the spawn of Satan. Samantha appeared on the British competition show Dancing on Ice in 2008 but was booted after three weeks. In 2007, she appeared on the U.K. show Get Your Act Together with Harvey Goldsmith that followed her less-than-successful return to music. Despite saying she was done with music in 2010, Samantha returned to pop in 2013 on the RTÉ TV program The Hit, where she performed a song called "Somebody Like Me." However, it was 2014's high-energy track "Only Just Begun" that marked Samantha's official comeback. She's also acted in a handful of movies, including the Irish/British gangster film Johnny Was (2006).
Dream Street
We'll never forget these cuties who were the epitome of Y2K cheese. Jesse McCartney went on to be—well—Jesse McCartney. Gregory Raposo switched gears to rock, performing in never-took-off bands like Dead Celebrities and Stereopath. He returned to solo music in 2012 with an independent album called Loss, Love, Life. (It didn't chart.) Frankie Galasso tried out for Glee, but didn't make the cut. He recorded a few solo songs, but—most impressively—was an ensemble cast member in the First National Touring of Jersey Boys in 2012. Chris Trousdale played a Justin Bieber parody character on an episode of the Disney show Shake It Up; he also auditioned for the third season of The Voice but wasn't picked by the judges. According to a June 2014 tweet, Chris is making new music. Via his LinkedIn profile, Matthew Ballinger currently works in the pharmaceutical division of a staffing company. What a big boy job!
Willa Ford
The "I Wanna Be Bad" chanteuse has kept pretty busy since her 2001 glory days. She's done some acting work, including 2009's Friday the 13th reboot and spots on the TV shows Leverage and Magic City. Willa appeared on Dancing with the Stars in 2006 but was eliminated after the fifth week. Unfortunately, Lady W's solo music credits since "Bad" are few and far between. Per her IMDB page, Willa's most recent film credits are Submerged (2015), Checkmate (2015), Any Day (2014), and The Nurse (2014). (We recommend blocking her 2007 biopic The Anna Nicole Smith Story, where she played Anna Nicole Smith, from your memory.)
BBMak
ALL THE "BACK HERE" FEELS <333. What ever happened to these hotties? Mark Barry is now a personal trainer. Christian Burns collaborated with Tiësto and Benny Benassi among other DJs on several EDM songs; his solo album Simple Modern Answers came out in October 2013. In 2014, EDM artist BT and he toured with the synth duo Erasure. Stephen McNally is the lead singer of 10 Reasons to Live and plays in the cover band Groove Nation.
Blu Cantrell
"Hit 'Em Up Style (Oops!)" will forever be the ultimate YAAAS break-up anthem. Blu's career since the 2001 mega-hit has been—erm—interesting to say the least. She starred alongside Real Housewives of Atlanta icon Kenya Moore in the play Gossip, Lies and Secrets, which ran in fall 2007. Most recently, TMZ reported Blu had been hospitalized for psychological evaluation in September 2014 . According to the website's article, someone called the police after Blu started screaming—at 2 AM in a Santa Monica neighborhood—that she'd been poisioned. Eek!