Pussycat Dolls Bio
"Inside every woman is a Pussycat Doll," says Robin Antin, the
creator of the singing-and-dancing ensemble that has risen from
underground cool to major label hot. "It's about female empowerment,
about being confident with who you are. It's about singing and dancing
in front of a mirror by yourself and having fun."
With their A&M Records debut album, PCD,
(led by the #1 smash "Don't Cha," a duet with Busta Rhymes and produced
by Cee-Lo), the Pussycat Dolls go beyond being extraordinarily
beautiful. With tremendous voices, and after working with today's top
songwriters and producers (including Will.I.Am from the Black Eyed
Peas, Timbaland, Rich Harrison, Sean Garrett, and Ron Fair), the
Pussycat Dolls are ready to stamp their mark on music and on attitudes.
"To me, a Pussycat Doll is fearless but also vulnerable," says lead
singer Nicole Scherzinger. "We're strong but we like to play too. The
line in 'Don't Cha'--'don't cha wish your girlfriend was hot like
me'--is meant to be empowering. The Pussycat Dolls are not about just
being hot but also about saying something with real feeling."
From Scherzinger, who earlier scored a Top 10 album and single while in
girl group Eden's Crush, to Jessica Sutta, the one-time captain of the
Miami Heat dance troupe; from Carmit Bachar, the "La Vida Loca" girl on
Ricky Martin's world tour, to Ashley Roberts and Kimberly Wyatt, two of
the most talented young dancers in Hollywood, and Melody Thornton, a
stunning singer chosen from an open audition, these Pussycat Dolls
represent the next step for the group whose Sunset Strip performances
became the hippest ticket in Hollywood.
The Pussycat Dolls were born in a tiny dance studio in the L.A. garage
of actress Christina Applegate, with whom Antin was rooming in the
early '90s. Antin had appeared in commercials for Coke and 7-Up, and
did choreography for music videos for the likes of Smash Mouth, The
Offspring, and No Doubt. "But I wanted to do something creative and
different," she says.
So Antin invited over a few girlfriends who were also tour/music video
dancers and they began to play around with her own choreography, a
style endowed with the spirit of famed choreographer Bob Fosse ("Sweet
Charity," "Cabaret") but also music from Led Zeppelin to punk rock,
Siouxsie & the Banshees to Bjork, and fashion as well. Meanwhile
Applegate suggested they perform at the Sunset Strip's renowned Viper
Room. Owner Johnny Depp saw them rehearse and reportedly said, "This is
why I opened a club." The Pussycat Dolls, which have seen many members
in its evolving lineup since debuting in 1995, became the Thursday
night opening act for the next six years.
A turning point came in 2000 when No Doubt's Gwen Stefani came to a
show and said she'd love to do a guest spot, not just to dance but to
sing. So did Christina Aguilera. In 2002 it was time to take the show
to a bigger venue and so the Pussycat Dolls moved to the Roxy. For two
shows a week, for seven weeks, the place was sold out. Other guest
performers included Brittany Murphy, Charlize Theron, Nikka Costa,
Paris Hilton, and Pamela Anderson. All of them appeared without pay,
just for the fun of it, including emcee Applegate.
That same year, Antin joined forces with Jimmy Iovine, Chairman,
Interscope Geffen A&M, who also envisioned taking them to a higher
level.
Their song "We Went As Far As We Felt Like Going" was heard in 2004's Shark Tale,
their cover of the standard "Sway" (helmed by Ron Fair, A&M
President and producer for Aguilera and the Black Eyed Peas, among
others) was heard in 2004's Shall We Dance? The Pussycat Dolls were also seen in 2003's Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle and Pink's "Trouble" video as well as 2005's Be Cool. Scherzinger was featured with Will Smith on "If U Can't Dance (Slide)" on his 2005 Lost And Found album.
Today, there is a Pussycat Dolls line of makeup from Stila and the
Pussycat Dolls Lounge opened in April 2005 inside Caesar's Palace in
Las Vegas, featuring a different roster of performers. The future may
hold a line of clothing, lingerie, perfume, videogames, TV, and movie
projects, and other lounges.
Written by Record Label
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