THE TRUEBLISS STORY
TrueBliss were formed in January of 1999 to form the basis of a documentary series following the creation of an all-girl group in New Zealand.  Originally 500 girls auditioned for a place in a band that whilst guaranteed stardom was never guaranteed musical success.

The show "Popstars" went to air in April of 1999 and was an instant hit, in the following three months, Erika Takacs, Megan Cassie, Joe Cotton, Carly Binding and Keri Harper would become household names in New Zealand.

Success seemed assured and when their first single "Tonight" debuted at number 1 on the New Zealand charts it seemed trueBliss were destined to be huge.
The album, "Dream", was released in early June and immediately shot to number 1 with platinum sales.  However in the weeks that followed it slowly slipped down the charts.

The follow up single - the optimistically titled "Number One" was released at the very end of July and debuted at #12 on the charts - "Number One" was accompanied by a risky Fifth Element inspired video that was not warmly received.  At the same time as "Number One" was in stores "Freedom" a cover of a Wham track that Joe sang at her audition, was being played on radio.
In August trueBliss embarked on the "Number One Tour" which was a sell out in 17 centres throughout New Zealand.  At the same time they were involved in a month long advertising campaign for Burger King and the book "TrueBliss - The Official Story" was released.  However by this time it looked like their star was beginning to fade.  "Number One" only spent a month on the charts and even the tour did not help boast sales of "Dream".

In October "Freedom" was finally released as a commercial single.  However by this stage it had been on radio for two months and its airplay was beginning to wane. This coupled with the fact that from September radio airplay also played a part in the charts meant that it had very little chance of chart success.  To top this off, many retailers, still burdened with unsold copies of "Number One" refused to stock it. 
In November "Don't Turn Your Back" was due to go to radio, it had been granted money from NZ On Air for a video and was included on the latest Kiwi Hit Disc which was sent to radio stations, however the single of it  was unexplainedly canned at the last moment.

By this stage Popstars producer and trueBliss manager Jonathan Dowling had sold the concept of the TV series but not the band internationally.  This was a further nail in the trueBliss coffin, although at the time Sony said it was still committed to a second trueBliss album and the girls were working hard on new material, much of it being penned by red-headed member Carly Binding.
The first few months of 2000 were relatively quiet for trueBliss.  They appeared at the Birthday Celebrations of Te Papa Tongarewa (the Museum of NZ) and received an NZ on Air grant for their new single "We Kissed". 

However in May, Carly Binding announced she was leaving the band for a solo career.  The other girls said they were planning to continue as a foursome, but by this stage they were beginning to be overshadowed by Bardot, the group formed out of the Australian series of Popstars. The girls profile lifed briefly during July when they performed at the Birthday celebrations of the Village Force (Planet Hollywood) Complex and at the Bledisloe Cup where they sang the NZ National anthem whilst Bardot sang the Australian anthem. 
Whilst the girls have never officially split up, they have no record deal and are working on solo projects.  Erika is the host of the TV2 show RTR Coundown and is working on some solo demos.  Megan has formed a singing group with her sisters (one of whom is The tribe star Meryl Cassie) called the Nubian Angels and has married her longtime fiance, All Black Peter Alatini.  Joe Cotton is currently singing in the cabaret band The Mermaids which was put together by Martin Winch, the man behind the immensely successful "Espresso Guitar" albums.  Keri Harper had gone to Australia to work as a singer on Hamilton Island and has recently returned to work on some solo demos.  Carly is working on her solo album to be released through FMR in Australia and New Zealand and is currently touring the country in the production Blood Brothers.  So whilst trueBliss have not officially split, if you are waiting for new material from them anytime soon, take the advice of Joe Cotton.... "don't hold your breath".  
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