If there’s one thing that’s certain about Mutya Buena, it’s that you can’t keep her down. Buena is perhaps best know for her role in one of Britain’s most successful girl bands of recent times, the Sugababes, and enjoyed her own solo career before embarking on her newest musical venture, Mutya Keisha Siobhán (MKS).
Hailing from Kingsbury and of Filipino and Irish descent, Buena knew where her passion and talent lay from a young age. In 1998, when Buena was only thirteen years old, she formed the Sugababes with fellow members Keisha Buchanan and Siobhán Donaghy; the three girls establishing the band’s original line up. It would only be another two years before they released their debut album, One Touch, which peaked at number 26 on the UK Chart. The success of the girl group continued to flourish, with critics praising their mature vocals and three of their singles featured on the album breaking into the Top 20.
The Sugababes underwent their first member change when Siobhán left the group shortly after their debut. She was replaced with former Atomic Kitten, Heidi Range. This line up of Buena, Buchanan and Range would see the Sugababes achieve even greater acclaim and popularity. They had their first number one single with Freak Like Me, and the album that featured it – Angels With Dirty Faces – reached a close second place. Buena and her band mates continued to establish themselves as pop royalty with the huge success of further singles such as Too Lost In You, featured in the much-loved film Love Actually, as well as Hole in the Head and Push the Button.
In 2005, Buena departed from the band to embark on a solo career, beginning work on her debut album in 2006. The result was Real Girl, an R&B/Soul album that peaked at number 10 in the UK charts. The title track, Real Girl, took the number two spot in the UK singles chart and earned Buena nominations for both a MOBO award and a Brit Award for ‘Best Single’. The album featured collaborations with other celebrity talents such as Groove Armada in Song 4 Mutya (Out of Control) and Amy Winehouse in B Boy Baby (the final single featuring Amy before her passing in 2011).
Buena also made several reality television appearances in-between releases, appearing on Alan Carr’s Celebrity Ding Dong in 2008 and entering as a housemate in Celebrity Big Brother in 2009. In 2010, after a brief break from music, Buena released six tracks on the album The Sound of Camden produced by Roy Sela, covering hits from classic rock and metal bands such as The Pixies and Iron Maiden. In addition to being made available on iTunes, copies of the album were also sold at Camden Town Market, enticing local audiences.
In October 2011 there was excitement from both the media and fans when rumours circulated that she would be reuniting with original Sugababes members Buchanan and Donaghy. The regrouping, under the new name Mutya Keisha Siobhán (MKS), was officially confirmed in July 2012, and was met with enthusiasm from the public and fellow musicians; Emeli Sandé being one example. In August 2013, the trio’s music video for their debut single Flatline was released online to rapturous reviews from music journalists, with Eve Barlow from NME claiming that it was “worth the 12 year wait.” Buena now continues to work on MKS’s new material for their debut album and snippets of the latest tracks Boys and Back in the Day have already been leaked online.
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