Rosa Isabel Mutya Buena (born 21 May 1985 in Kingsbury, London), known professionally as Mutya Buena, is an English singer and songwriter, who rose to fame as a member of the pop group Sugababes. In January 2009, Mutya appeared in the sixth series of Celebrity Big Brother but left on Day 15 citing homesickness. She will be releasing her second solo album later in 2010.
Biography
Personal life
Her family currently lives in Kingsbury, London. She attended Kingsbury High School. Mutya is of Filipino, Chinese, and Irish descent. Her name "Mutya" means "muse" or "The one I adore" in Tagalog, the official language in the Philippines. She has five brothers (Bayani means "Hero", Charlie, Chris, Danny and Roberto) and two younger sisters, Ligaya means "Happiness" in Filipino and Dalisay means "Pure"; another sister, Maya (named after a bird of the Philippines), died in 2002, and the song "Maya" on the album Three is dedicated to her. On 23 March 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.
She appeared on the UK edition of Celebrity Big Brother 2009, but left after having been nominated for eviction (but not evicted as Tina Malone was evicted). She cited her reasons for leaving as not wanting to spend another day away from her family.
She has 14 tattoos, including a large flower on her leg.
Sugababes
The original line-up of the group consisted of friends Keisha Buchanan, Siobhan Donaghy and Buena. Buena and Buchanan were friends from school and met Donaghy 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 December 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 Amy Winehouse, George Michael and dance music writers Groove Armada.
Buena began working on her debut album in early 2006, after signing with her previous label Universal Island Records. 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 no. 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. Preceding the album, the title track "Real Girl" was released in early 2007. It was a big hit in the UK, making it to Number 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 Number 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 18 and 19 August 2007 at Hylands Park, Chelmsford and Western Park, Staffordshire. She also appeared at T4 On The Beach 2007 on Sunday 22 July 2007. 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 1 October 2007, Buena was nominated for the 2007 British "Music of Black Origin" (MOBO) awards at the o2 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 12 February 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. 2
Mutya is currently working on her second studio album with record producer Dave Michigan ready for release in late 2009.
"Real Girl" is featured on the Sex and the City, Vol 2: More Music Soundtrack
On 31 October 2008, Mutya appeared on Alan Carr's Celebrity Ding Dong.
In January 2009, Mutya featured on Asher D's second single With You rom his album Ashley Walters, as well as the Don-E track "The Time Is Now".
After Big Brother her album sales went up by over 100%.
In a recent interview with Mail Online, she stated that she will be writing tracks for other people and that she wants to spend more time writing songs this year rather than releasing new material.3
She recently revealed on her Twitter page that she would be performing on Britains Got Talent on 29 May 2009.4
Celebrity Big Brother
Mutya was on the Channel 4 show, Celebrity Big Brother 2009, until she walked on the night of the second eviction, 16 January 2009.5 Mutya walked out of Celebrity Big Brother due to the fact that she found that she missed her family especially her daughter Tahlia.
Discography
Albums
| Year |
Information |
UK |
IRE |
NL |
SWI |
Sales and certifications |
| 2007 |
Real Girl
|
10 |
25 |
33 |
36 |
U.K sales: 100,000+
BPI: Gold6
|
| 2010 |
TBA
|
TBA |
TBA |
TBA |
TBA |
U.K sales: TBA
BPI: TBA
|
Singles
Others
| Year |
Song |
Album |
| 2008 |
"The Time Is Now" (Don-E featuring Mutya Buena) |
Natural |
| 2008 |
"Fast Car" |
Promo single only |
| 2009 |
"With You" (Ashley Walters featuring Mutya Buena) |
A. Walters |
| 2009 |
"Give Back" (with Tah Mac) |
Welcome 2 Tah Land |
References
External links
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Mutya Buena |
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| Studio albums |
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| Singles |
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| Related articles |
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