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Mutya Buena
Background information
Birth name	Rosa Isabel Mutya Buena
Born	May 21, 1985 (1985-05-21) (age 23)
Origin	London, England
Genre(s)	Pop, R&B, soul, dance
Years active	1998 – present
Label(s)	Universal Records (2006-2008)
Associated acts	Sugababes, George Michael, Amy Winehouse
Website	MutyaMusic.com

Rosa Isabel Mutya Buena (born 21 May 1985 in Kingsbury, London), known professionally as Mutya Buena, is a BRIT Award-nominated Filipino British singer and songwriter, who rose to fame as a member of the pop group Sugababes.

Biography

Personal life

Her family currently lives in Kingsbury, London. Her father is of Filipino descent from Tagbilaran City, Bohol, while her mother is half Irish, quarter Chinese and quarter Spanish^{citation needed}. She attended Kingsbury High School. Her name "Mutya" means "muse" or "pearl" in Tagalog, a language of the Philippines. She has five brothers (Bayani, Charlie, Chris, Danny and Roberto) and two younger sisters, Ligaya and Dalisay; another sister, Maya, died in 2002, and the song "Maya" on the album Three is dedicated to her. On March 23, 2005, Mutya gave birth to 5lb 10oz Tahlia-Maya Buena, her first child with boyfriend Jay. She named her child Tahlia-Maya in memory of her sister, Maya.

Sugababes

Main article: Sugababes

The original line-up of the group consisted of childhood friends Keisha Buchanan, Siobhan Donaghy and Buena, who met at a party in 1998. Since scoring a record deal, the band has gone on to become one of the most successful UK-based female groups in British history - second only to the Spice Girls in terms of record sales. They have had four platinum selling albums, six number one singles, a BRIT-Award as well as a platinum-selling greatest hits album. However, in late 2005, Buena announced that she was leaving the group because of "personal reasons". Her replacement, Amelle Berrabah, joined the group in November 2005, the Sugababes' second member change since Siobhan Donaghy left in 2001, being replaced by Heidi Range.

Solo career

Since her departure from the Sugababes, Buena has worked with a range of record producers and artists, including BRIT and Grammy Award winning and platinum-selling jazz artist Amy Winehouse, George Michael and dance music writers Groove Armada. The first single to be released in the UK featuring Buena was that of a sultry ballad duet with George Michael, entitled This Is Not Real Love. Released in November 2006, it was UK Top 20 hit after reaching #15. It also appeared on Michael's greatest hits album Twenty Five. Following this, Buena toured with Michael on the London and Manchester leg of his 2006 25 Live tour. The duet between Michael and Buena is also included on Buena's debut album Real Girl.

Buena began working on her debut album in early 2006, after signing with her previous label Universal Island Records. Preceding the album, the title track "Real Girl" was released in early 2007. It was a big hit in the UK, making it to #2 in the charts, as well as having a BRIT Award nomination for "Best Single". The song samples Lenny Kravitz's hit "It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over", and was produced by London-based production company Full Phat. Following this, Buena's debut album Real Girl was released, and made #10 in the UK amid mixed reviews from critics and fans alike. The album only held a place in the UK Top 40 Albums for three weeks, quickly dropping off the chart.

Buena performed at V Festival on August 18 and 19 at Hylands Park, Chelmsford and Western Park, Staffordshire. She also appeared at T4 On The Beach 2007 on Sunday 22 July. Buena also covered Tracy Chapman's classic "Fast Car" in 2007 for BBC Radio 1 as part of the "Radio 1 Established 1967" 40-year anniversary.

The third song to be released from the album was "Song 4 Mutya (Out Of Control)" , her collaboration with dance duo Groove Armada. The song received rave reviews from Popjustice reached position 8 in the UK charts. The fourth release from the album was Just a Little Bit which reached 65. Buena then collaborated with Amy Winehouse, on a re-working of the track Be My Baby by The Ronettes, entitled B Boy Baby which only reached number 73 in the UK top 75. Mutya's debut solo album Real Girl, was certified as Gold, after selling more than 100,000 copies.

On October 1, 2007, Buena was nominated for the 2007 British "Music of Black Origin" (MOBO) awards. The MOBO Awards was held at the 02 Arena in London.^[1]

On 14 December 2007, she stood in at the last minute for the ill Jill Scott on the BBC Two program Later with Jools Holland, fronting Scott's band singing Real Girl and Just A Little Bit which the band had learned in one hour.

On February 12, 2008, Mutya was dropped by her record label due to poor sales and charting positions from Real Girl and her last two singles, Just a Little Bit and B Boy Baby^{citation needed}.

Mutya is currently working on her second studio album ready for release in late 2009.

On July 15th, Mutya and fellow artist Jody Lei set up talent agency Real Girl Productions to "try to give other talents a chance." The pair are currently looking for singers, producers, writers, DJs, dancers, models, and musicians to be signed to Real Girl Productions. In the Myspace blog that Mutya posted to promote the agency, she explains their aim is to "try to do something positive with the youth today."

Albums

Singles

References

External links

• Mutya's Official Website
• Mutya Buena at MySpace
• Mutya Valley
• Mutya Mania