About
Bananarama are an English female pop music vocal duo, originally formed as a trio in London in 1981 by friends Sara Dallin, Siobhan Fahey and Keren Woodward. Their success on both pop and dance charts saw them listed in the Guinness World Records for achieving the world’s highest number of chart entries by an all-female group. Between 1982 and 2009, they had 28 singles reach the Top 50 of the UK Singles Chart.
The group’s 10 UK Top 10 hits include “It Ain’t What You Do…” (1982), “Really Saying Something” (1982), “Shy Boy” (1982), “Na Na Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” (1983), “Cruel Summer” (1983), “Robert De Niro’s Waiting…” (1984) and “Love in the First Degree” (1987). In 1986, they had a U.S. number one with another of their UK Top 10 hits, a cover of “Venus”. In total, they had 11 singles reach the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 (1983–1988), including two in the Top 10, with “Cruel Summer” (1984) and “I Heard a Rumour” (1987). They are associated with the MTV-driven Second British Invasion of the US. The group featured on the 1984 Band Aid single, “Do They Know It’s Christmas?”. They topped the Australian ARIA albums chart in June 1988 with Wow! (1987), and earned Brit Award nominations for Best British Single for “Love in the First Degree”, and Best Music Video for their 1988 hit cover of The Supremes single “Nathan Jones”.
Fahey left the group in 1988 and formed Shakespears Sister, best known for the UK number one “Stay” (1992). She was replaced by Jacquie O’Sullivan. This line-up had UK top five hits with “I Want You Back” (1988) and a cover of The Beatles’ “Help!” (1989), recorded with comedy duo French and Saunders for the charity Comic Relief. In 1989 they embarked on their first world tour.
After O’Sullivan’s 1991 departure, Dallin and Woodward continued Bananarama as a duo, with hits including “Movin’ On” (1992), “More, More, More” (1993) and “Move in My Direction” (2005). Fahey rejoined Bananarama in 2017 and they toured the UK in November/December 2017 and North America in February 2018. They performed their final dates as a trio in August 2018.
