Soul II Soul: celebrating 30 years in the business

Legendary R&B/soul group Soul II Soul were founded in London in 1988 and, throughout the late 80s and 90s, the group made a name for itself not only in the United Kingdom, but also across Euorpe and the United States. Beginning as a loose collaboration of multiple artists who came together to play live, Soul II Soul was initially founded by DJ Jazzie B. In 1988, he and some of his fellow collaborators came together to put out a single dubplate, titled "Fairplay" with the track bringing Soul II Soul attention in night clubs and landing the group a contract with 10, a label owned by Virgin Records.

This took the musicians from an experimental collaboration to an official group. Made up of Nellee Hooper, Simon Law, Phillip Harvey, and Caron Wheeler, Soul II Soul made music together until 1997, when the group officially went its separate ways. Despite that, Soul II Soul still comes together for live tours, and has done so since 2009. Don't miss your chance to see them live when they next visit the UK, buy Soul II Soul tickets now at StubHub. 

Soul II Soul: celebrating 30 years in the business

Singles "Keep on Movin'" and "Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)" are credited with giving Soul II Soul their initial push into the limelight. "Keep on Movin'" made it to number five on the UK singles chart and the 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, before "Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)" reached number on the UK Singles, Billboard Dance Club Play, and Billboard Hot Black Singles charts. Off the back of this success, the group's first album Club Classics Vol. One went on to achieve platinum status.

In the coming years, Soul II Soul received five nominations at the American Music Awards in 1990 and five more at the Brit Awards between 1990 and 1991. However, it was at the Grammy Awards and the Soul Train Awards that it took home its major wins. At the 1990 Grammy Awards, the group was nominated four times and won twice in the R&B category. In the same year, it won three out of four Soul Train awards for nominations in R&B categories.

From 1989 to 1995, the band released four hit albums. Besides Club Classics Vol. One, which made it to number one on both the United States and UK charts, Vol. II: 1990 - A New Decade went platinum in the United Kingdom and gold in the United States. Volume III Just Right took the No. 3 spot on the UK Albums chart and achieved gold status. Volume V Believe made it to No. 13 on the UK chart, and the group's 1993 compilation album, Volume IV The Classic Singles 88-93, also went platinum in the United Kingdom.

See the legendary soul group live when they next tour the UK, buy Soul II Soul tickets now at StubHub. 

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Once you've bought Soul II Soul tickets at StubHub, check out Billy Ocean and Mary J. Blige for more musical goodness.