Rollercoaster ride - definition: very popular, wild and exciting experience. A whirlwind ride covering great highs and lows� exhilarating.

It�s seems like an instant since Liberty X appeared on the scene�. But in that instant they�ve travelled across Europe, Australia and America, lost a lawsuit, changed their name, performed at no.1 on Top of The Pops, gone mental at winning their first Brit, been presented with double platinum discs for debut album �Thinking It Over�, spent 10 months constantly in the top 50 airplay chart and had hoax calls from Richard Branson on CD:UK.

Launched on the scene at a press conference in front of the UK media, Tony�s dad knew his son had arrived when he saw him soaked in champagne falling on his arse on Sky News. Liberty X were starting on a big gamble. The public humiliation of losing out on the Popstars programme to the members of Hear�say had hardly set them up as a serious proposition. A nation�s jaded eyes cynically watched� waiting for a slightly less literal fall from grace. Liberty X were going to have to work hard to gain anything other than flash-in-the-pan celebrity.

The individual members of Liberty X had all been offered single deals/tv work after their television exposure but they were intent on doing it the old-fashioned way - keeping their heads down, keeping together and writing some music. So when they walked through the doors of v2 six months later, they were a united band with their own style, their own ideas and six potential tunes in their hands�. two of the six being perennial live and album favourite No Clouds and debut single Thinking It Over. Liberty X were duly signed for a six album deal.

Thinking It Over was a co-write with Pete Devereux of the Artful Dodger, a sultry garage number that kicked off in the clubs and with Radio 1�s Dreem Teem. In fact the Dreem Teem played the single for three weeks without revealing who it was by and asking their listeners to guess who the band were�. nobody came close, but everybody loved the track. Thinking It Over entered the charts at number 5 in one of the most competitive weeks of the year and stayed in the top 20 for four weeks, quickly passing the magical 100,000 sales mark.

�Doin� It� quickly followed chalking up a top 20 hit for the band and the album was ready for release. What could go wrong? Plenty. A little known band also called Liberty took the X�s to court for the rights to the name. Suddenly Liberty X were trapped in a swathe of legal papers and all plans were put on hold. The judge decided� and suddenly it was liberty lost and an x marking the spot. It was a harsh setback but Liberty X had been using the time outside of court in a rather useful manner�. while legal matters had been fought and sombre suits had been donned for appearances at the Crown Court� evenings were spent recording a new song�. A big song with a small title� Just A Little.

�Sexy� everything about you�s so sexy�.� Is anyone reading this not familiar with those lyrics? �Just A Little� entered the public psyche in May 2002�. Truly, is there another song that more defines 2002? After a surreal week of remarkable midweeks and shredded nerves�.Just A Little was announced as the UK�s no.1 on Sunday 19th May�. With less of a clarion call but equally as impressive, Liberty X achieved in the same week the first in a run of no.1s in the UKs airplay charts (the single has so far sold half a million and was the sixth biggest seller of the year).

Two weeks after Just A Little was released came their debut album Thinking It Over. The band had been heavily involved in the writing process (co-writing 10 of the 14 tracks) and the r&b flavoured pop sound belied their youth and further vaulted them into credible territory� it was cutting edge pop with powerful melodies and stunning vocals. Liberty X were fast becoming the popband it was okay to like and the album entered the charts just behind Eminem and quickly attained platinum status (now double platinum and rising).

The rest of the year followed in a flurry of activity� two further massive hits followed in Mantronix� �Got To Have Your Love� (Given the nod of approval by the man himself as Kurtis Mantronix did his own mix for them) and the Liberty X co-written ballad Holding on For You. Imbetween they performed across UK and Europe and garnered international success with chart hits so far in the UK, Ireland, Holland, Belgium, France, Germany, Australia and New Zealand.

It seemed the X�s were here to stay.

At Radio 1�s invitation, on February 9th 2003, Liberty X were the first band to ever play three tracks live into the Top 40 Countdown (as part of the 50th anniversary of the charts). On 20th February they won the Brit for Best British Single with �Just A Little. Commentators noted that of all the winners Liberty X were the ones who really celebrated �. leaping so high from their seats it was a relief noone connected with the roof of Earls Court. It was quite a night and there was more to come. In May the single also won an Ivor Novello and these honours topped a great list of awards as diverse as Best Band (T4), Best Dance Act (Disney) and Best Single (Capital Radio Awards & Smash Hits Awards).

There was one more �first� waiting� their debut tour. On the basis that theatricals were not for them and wanting to prove themselves worthy performers, a pared down set, a full band and live vocals led to rave reviews in music magazines and broadsheets alike and that rarity in the fickle world of pop�. a sell out 23 date tour.

As a final farewell before returning to the studio Liberty X were narrowly beaten to the number one spot with Being Nobody (their invited collaboration with uber-bootleg king Richard X). The video had them playing pop stars being churned out on a production line �. by now it was clear that nothing could be further from the truth for a band who�d made their own success by going their own way.

So what�s next?

Having spent the last few months in the studio writing and recording, Liberty X are set to return with a killer second album in November and, prior to the album, there�s the small matter of the first single �Jumpin� out on October 20th�..this is the track that blew the roof off every night of their tour and threatens to soon be setting fire to dancefloors across the country and beyond.

Liberty X have become one of the biggest and most respected pop acts in the country�. Where do they go from here? Well, there�ll be more chart success, more tunes with a capital �T� and an Arena tour beckons next March but�.looking back on how far they�ve come already�does anyone want to put a limit on where they can go from here?�.. they�re just getting started�.. time to sit back and enjoy the ride.

Liberty X, the band with the X factor.